


Dark Choices

by Razial



Series: Alternate Paths [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Action/Adventure, Assault, Dark, Drama, F/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-10-05 19:19:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 48,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10315205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Razial/pseuds/Razial
Summary: Set around early season three. Xander suffers for lying to Buffy about the soul spell. After nearly being beaten to death by her, whilst Willow, Cordelia and Oz watch with no emotion, only Giles' arrival saves his life. With no option but to leave Sunnydale, he heads to Boston to stay with his cousin only to meet the new Slayer and her Watcher.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Some will note in the first part of the story Buffy and most of the gang act in a very oc way but it was a necessary part of story, things will be worked out as the story progesses.

Dark Choices 

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy or any of the other characters in this story they belong to Joss Whedon.

Pairing: Faith/Xander Romance, Xander/Amy friendship

Summary: Set around early season three. Xander suffers for lying to Buffy about the soul spell. After nearly being beaten to death by her, whilst Willow, Cordelia and Oz watch with no emotion, only Giles' arrival saves his life. With no option but to leave Sunnydale, he heads to Boston to stay with his cousin only to meet the new Slayer and her Watcher.

Note: A big thank you to Hawklan and Inachis for betaing this story.

*

Sunnydale High School: Night

Xander headed towards the library, ready to face another long night of patroling with his friends. Ever since he'd gotten involved with Buffy and the slaying, he had sworn he would do everything possible to protect his friends. He had carried out many reckless tasks to fulfill that promise, forcing Angel, Buffy's undead lover, to lead him to the Master's hide out, and then facing off against Angelus, Angel's demon side, to save Buffy's life. His only failures were his best friend Jessie, Miss Calendar and the second Slayer he had known, Kendra. He knew he should have tried better, pushed himself harder and just maybe, if he had, they'd still be alive, but they weren't. He would have to live with these failures, as best as he could.

 

His biggest task happened recently when the final battle with Angelus had come about. Buffy had headed out to free Giles and face Angelus before he could unleash Acathla and suck the world into hell. He had met her there to tell her about the soul spell that Willow was going to try again, and yet, the moment he looked into her eyes he had known that if she knew, she would hold back and wait to give Willow time and that would be all Angelus would need to kill her and win. He made a judgment call and lied to save not only their lives, but also the entire world. He had lied to one of best friends.

 

So far it would seem his lie would never be found out. He hadn't had the strength to tell them. He knew they'd never see it his way, except for Giles. Buffy definetely wouldn't see it his way. Willow and the others would be swayed by Buffy, like they always were. He had decided to keep his lie a secret for as long as he could and hope it never came to light.

 

****

 

As he opened the doors to the library he noticed how four sets of eyes locked onto him. Not one of them showed any welcome or happiness at his arrival and he wondered what was going on. He felt a cold shiver run down his spine at the look in Buffy's eyes. They were cold, almost dead of all emotion except for hate and anger. Before he could even think to ask what was wrong, Buffy almost ran across the room and hit him dead in the face, sending him flying into the book cage. He felt as if he's been hit by a ten ton pile of brick. He felt dizzy as he tried to stand, only for Buffy to knee him in the chest before kicking him so hard he flew across the room, crashing into the banister, breaking it.

 

"Wuh.." he tried to speak through the pain that now racked his body. "Why?"

he managed to ask.

 

"You dare to ask why, you bastard?" Buffy hissed, as if even talking to him was like unto a sin. "You dare to even act as if you're innocent?" she added, before kicking him twice more. This time he heard a snap and he knew she must have broken one of his ribs.

 

"Buffy please," he managed to choke out.

 

"You can beg all you want. It'll just make me want to draw this out," Buffy hissed, her eyes glowing with hate.

 

Buffy reached down and picked him up, only to knee him again before punching him right near his heart, sending him flying into the stacks. As Xander landed he begun to cough up blood and he heard more painfull snaps coming from his body. His vision was slowly failing and he could barely withstand the pain.

 

"Willow, please," he managed to gasp, before coughing up more blood.

 

"You brought this on yourself Xander, and you deserve what you get for what you forced Buffy to endure," Willow replied in a dead voice.

 

"You lied to me, you son of a bitch. You told me Willow told you to tell me to 'Kick his ass'" Buffy hissed, her tone becoming darker as she stalked Xander. "You never even told me she was trying the soul spell again. I had to kill Angel because of you," she screamed as she launched another hard kick, this time to Xander's leg as he tried to stand, breaking it.

 

Xander cried out in agony at both the pain and the realization that Buffy knew about his lie. He also realized that Buffy had already turned the others against him, including his own girlfriend. He knew he would not survive Buffy's wrath, but he wouldn't go down without speaking his own mind.

 

"I did it to save us all," he shouted, not caring about the pain.

 

"Yeah right," Buffy shouted back coldly. "You did just so you could get rid of Angel. Did you think I'd come to you, once he was gone?" Buffy taunted him.

 

"No, you've got it wrong," Xander tried to protest.

 

"I thought you were my friend Xander and you betrayed me," Buffy said, her voice low and deadly. "You made me send my soul mate to hell, well now you're going there as well," she added.

 

"No," Xander tried one last time to plead with them.

 

Buffy just smiled coldly before launching two more hard kicks, one to his neck and the second to his head, finally knocking Xander out cold. Buffy raised her fist to end the life of the boy who had betrayed her when she was suddenly thrown away from her prey.

 

"What in God's name do you think you are doing?" Giles cold voice suddenly rang through the library.

 

"Making Xander pay for betraying me," Buffy replied with no trace of guilt.

 

"Get out, all of you, right now before I call the police," Giles roared, disgusted and heart sick at what he had walked into.

 

Buffy just stared at the body of Xander, before she finally turned and walked away, quickly followed by the others. Giles quickly made his way to the phone and called for an ambulance.

 

******

 

Giles stormed into the library the next day, barely keeping his anger in check. He could feel 'Ripper' trying to break loose and cause some damage not to just to the evil man who was supposed to be Xander's father, but to his own Slayer as well. She had almost killed Xander, a boy who had risked his life countless times to save hers. He would make sure she realized what she had done. What had been worse than seeing Buffy trying to kill Xander had been the fact that Willow, Oz and Cordelia had watched and not done a thing to help.

 

Walking into the library he was glad to see the entire group there. Once again there was no trace of guilt or regret at what had happened to be seen in any of them. His anger increased tenfold.

 

"Now I want to know about what did you think you were doing? You almost killed Xander," Giles demanded.

 

"Good, that was what I wanted to do," Buffy replied.

 

"How could you even think about doing that to him, after everything he has done for you?" Giles seethed, his anger almost overtaking him.

 

"He betrayed me," Buffy spat.

 

"And how exactly did he do that?" Giles asked. "What was so terrible that he deserved to almost be killed by you?" he added.

 

"He lied to me about the soul spell. Willow was trying it again and she had sent Xander to tell me, but he didn't. Instead he told me she had said to 'Kick his ass'" Buffy answered, her voice full of hate.

 

"And what do you think was his reason for doing this?" Giles asked.

 

"He was jealous of Angel and wanted him dead," Buffy hissed. "I want him dead for what he made me do. He made me send Angel to hell. The spell worked and I had to kill him," Buffy shouted.

 

"I believe you'll find his motives weren't as petty as you think. Before he slipped into a coma last night he told me what he had done and why," Giles thundered.

 

"And you believe him?" Buffy asked, shocked that he would take Xander's side instead of hers.

 

"Yes I do, I looked him in the eye and I knew he wasn't lying," Giles answered, "And I agree with what he did," he added.

 

"How dare you?" Buffy started before being cut off by Giles.

 

"No, how do you dare lay a hand on a human?" Giles shot back. "If the Council ever get's wind of this, you'll be terminated as a threat to the human race," Giles told her, his voice suddenly calm.

 

"So, why don't you tell them?" Buffy asked, unafraid of the threat.

"Because Xander asked me not to before he slipped into a coma. Now you listen to me, all of you. If even one of you goes near him, I will call the cops and have you all arrested. Do you understand me?" he told them all.

 

"Like we'd want to," Cordelia said with an air of arrogance.

 

"Now get out of this library. Don't even bother to come back unless it's important," Giles ordered them before he turned and walked away, not knowing how he was going to handle this problem.

 

****

 

Giles sighed in relief, as the doctor who treated Xander the night before informed him that Xander had woken up from his coma. According to the doctor it surprised half the staff here that he had woken up so quickly. Giles just smiled and thanked the doctor for everything he had done to help, before heading for Xander's room.

 

Xander slowly looked up in alarm, thinking Buffy had come to finish him, but he relaxed when he noticed that it was just Giles. He nodded slowly at the Watcher as he sat down by his bed.

 

"Hey Giles?" he managed to get out before wincing in pain from his injuries.

 

"I'm glad to see you awake," Giles replied with a small smile, suddenly noticing the blond haired girl sitting across the other side of Xander's bed. "Amy?" he asked perplexed, remembering the witch from the love spell debacle.

 

"Hi Mr. Giles, I heard what happened from Willow. Well, her version of it anyway," Amy replied with a grimace.

 

"Giles you should know I'm only awake because of Amy," Xander suddenly blurted out.

 

"Excuse me?" Giles asked, suddenly nervous. "You used magic to revive him?" Giles asked feeling quite frustrated.

 

"I had to. I could feel him slipping away," Amy answered meekly. "I had to do something and I've known him nearly all my life," she added.

 

"What did you do?" Giles asked, seeing the truth in the girl's eyes.

 

"It was a spell in one of my mother's books. It basically makes the soul stronger and heals any serious damage to the body. That's why he's able to move. I was careful Mr. Giles, honest," Amy told him.

 

"I see and in this case I'm glad you did it," Giles sighed. "You basically stopped Buffy from becoming a murderer," he added tiredly.

 

At the very mention of the blond Slayer Xander began to shake. His nerves were on fire as images of the beating he'd taken ran through his mind. Amy noticed his reaction and quickly grabbed his hand and gave it a comfortable squeeze. Xander slowly relaxed and smiled gratefully at the blond witch. Although he had known Willow and Jessie for much of his life, he had also developed a strong friendship with Amy right up to the point where her mother had taken over her body. It had grown strong again after they'd banished her mother and given her control of her body again.

 

"I'm going to have to leave Sunnydale, Giles," Xander said, facing the Watcher.

 

"I was afraid you might say that. However, under the circumstances I sadly have

to agree," Giles said.

 

"I'm going with him, no matter where he goes," Amy suddenly spoke up, intending to make sure her friend would be ok.

 

"Amy?" Xander asked, surprised.

 

"We can't let you go alone Xander. You're still badly hurt and you'll need help. I can do that. Plus my father would be than happy to help," she added happily.

 

"I will help as much as I can Xander. Do you have any idea where you'll go?" Giles could see the determined look in Amy's eyes and knew she wouldn't be swayed, so he had decided to change the subject.

 

"Thanks Giles," Xander nodded as a nurse walked into the room with his meds. "I was thinking of heading to Boston. I have a cousin there," he added.

 

"He needs to rest now, he can have visitors again in a few hours," the nurse told them as she handed Xander some pills and cup of water.

 

"Of course, I'll try and get things ready for your trip, let's go Amy," Giles said, standing up.

 

"But what if Willow and the others turn up and try to get at him again?" Amy asked, knowing not to mention Buffy's name, as it would set Xander of again.

 

"If there's someone you don't want to see him, just let the front desk know and they'll make sure they don't get in," the nurse spoke up as Xander fell asleep.

 

"Thank you," Giles nodded in gratitude and then left the room along with Amy.

 

*****

 

Giles walked into the library, glad to see Buffy and her group hadn't decided to hang around. It had been two weeks now since the attack and Xander was about ready to be released by the hospital. He and Amy had made all the arrangements needed for their trip with Amy's fathers help. She had Xander and herself transferred to one of Boston's many schools. Amy's father had also bought a two bedroom apartment for them to live in. He himself had set them up with a joint bank account, with help from his contacts on the Council. He had put as much money as he could into it to help them get by. Amy had promised they wouldn't waste it and he trusted her to keep her word.

 

He quickly looked up as Willow and Oz walked into the library. Both looked wary of him and he was glad. It meant they had taken the tongue lashing he had given them a few days ago to heart. Buffy and Cordelia however hadn't and still acted as if what they had done was right. Although neither Willow nor Oz had said sorry for their actions, they had at least realized what they had done was out of order.

 

"Giles, do you know where Amy is? She hasn't been in school for a week at least?" Willow asked.

 

Giles tried to look as if he didn't even remember the blond witch. They had decided no one would know she was leaving with Xander, especially Willow and the others.

 

"You know, the girl who did the love spell for Xander?" Willow added, although Giles noted how Willow's voice turned cold when she said her former best friend's name.

 

"I remember her and no, I don't know where she is," Giles answered, making sure to keep his face straight. "Why?" he asked.

 

"Just wondering," Willow replied before she turned around and left the library, followed by Oz.

 

Giles shook his head, hoping Xander and Amy's exit from Sunnydale would not be troubled by anyone, especially by Buffy. He was going to miss Xander, but he knew this was for the best. He didn't want Buffy to try and have another go at killing him. He was also going to miss Amy as well. He had grown to like the blond haired witch in the two weeks he had spent with her and Xander at the hospital and in making the preparations for their trip. She had indeed learned much since the love spell incident and was now more cautious when using her magic, unlike Willow who believed she was capable of controlling any kind of magic. It was sad to see such talent go to waste.

 

****

 

Xander watched as the bus that would take him and Amy away from Sunnydale and the Hellmouth finally arrived. His body still hurt a lot. He was still on crutches at the moment and would be for another month. He had quite a few pain killers to take until the pain stopped. He wondered if the nightmares of the assault would ever leave him.

 

"I wish you both a safe journey and take care of each other," Giles told them both, as the passengers began to board the bus.

 

"You too Giles, watch your back," Xander replied, before embracing the surprised Watcher in a hug, as best he could with the crutches. Amy soon joined the hug.

 

"We'll keep in touch," Xander told him, as they broke the hug. "And," Xander hesitated for a few seconds before speaking again, "keep an eye on the others, Giles. Make sure they don't' step over the line again," he finally finished.

 

"I promise," Giles said with a smile.

"If you two are coming, you better get on board, we leave in three minutes," a rough voice said from behind them.

"Guess this is it," Xander sighed before finally turning and boarding the bus, followed by a teary eyed Amy.

 

Giles managed to keep his face almost passive until the bus pulled out of the station. Once it was out of sight his eyes began to fill with tears. He knew, with Xander gone, the laughter that kept the group's spirits up was gone forever and that would be dangerous for the others. He feared how this event would affect the so called Scooby gang.others. He feared how this event would affect the so called Scooby gang.  
2\. Chapter 2

Note: A big thank you to Hawklan and Inachis for betaing this story.

Dark Choices Chapter 2

*****

Boston three days later

Xander almost cried out as he woke from yet another nightmare. The assault at the hands of Buffy was still very much with him. He had woken Amy up the two previous nights shouting out as he pictured Buffy almost landing the blow that would have killed him. She hadn't mined one bit, knowing he still suffered from the awful night his life fell apart. This time he had managed not to cry out, he noticed he was once again, sweating badly.

He shook his head and quickly got up and headed for the bathroom. After splashing some water on his face he looked into the mirror and shook his head. He hoped he could shake of the nightmares that plagued him still, especially since he and Amy started at their new school tomorrow. He had promised Amy he would really try harder with his studies instead of ignoring what the teachers were saying like he used to do. He didn't have Willow to help him out anymore. He shuddered as he remembered the blank look on his former best friend's face as Buffy almost killed him. He began to wish Buffy Summers had never come into their lives.

"You ok?" Amy's soft voice drifted into the bathroom.

 

He turned to find his friend near the door, watching him with a worried expression on her face. He sighed, he had hoped not to wake her up again.

 

"Yeah, I'm fine," he tried to evade.

 

"Xander don't lie to me," Amy replied with a frown.

 

"Sorry Amy, another nightmare, that's all," he apologized.

 

"You'll get over them eventually Xander, you just have to give it time," Amy told him with a confident smile.

 

"I know," he nodded before walking back towards his room, followed by Amy. "Night," he said, hoping he'd be able to get back to sleep.

 

"Night," Amy replied as she waited until he was actually in bed before chanting a small sleeping spell on him and walking back to her own room.

 

****

 

Sunnydale Night

 

Giles sighed as he thought over the horrible events that had just occurred, mixing in with the nearly deadly results of Buffy's attack on Xander. The Council had arrived to perform Buffy's Cruciamentum, forcing him to strip her of her powers for a time and then lead her to a house where she was to fight a vampire with no Slayer strength or help. Not only had the vampire escaped and killed the Council members guarding him, except for the Council head Quentin Travers, he had taken Buffy's mother Joyce hostage. He had informed Buffy of the test and after been told to stay away from her forever.

 

He had helped her rescue her mother and kill the vampire after he had arrived, ignoring her wishes. He had been fired by the Watchers' Council for having what they'd call fatherly love for his slayer. A new Watcher was on his way, even now. Buffy and Joyce were staying away from him after telling him they wanted nothing more to do with him. These were the worst days of his life.

 

****

 

Xander sighed as he and Amy headed towards the entrance of their new school. He was feeling somewhat nervous about this. They didn't know a single person here. He wondered how long it'd take to make some new friends. He knew Amy would most likely have no problem making friends, he however had never been too good at it.

 

"Ready?" Amy asked, breaking his train of thought.

 

"I guess," Xander replied before following Amy into the school.

 

After a half hour meeting with the principal and a small tour of the school grounds they were told to report to the store office to get the books they'd need. Finally they headed for their first class which was Science. Luckily they had most of their classes together, except for Math and History. Xander actually found himself liking their new Science teacher. She was only twenty four and had a calming attitude towards her pupils, a stark change from the teachers of good old Sunnydale. He hoped the others teachers were just as nice.

 

Finally after what seemed like a very long day the final bell rang. He'd found only two other of his teachers likable. The others were nearly as bad as the faculty at Sunnydale. The principal wasn't too bad, nothing like Snyder, for which he was extremely grateful. He quickly met up with Amy near the entrance to find her talking to a rather small girl with long black hair and very intense blue eyes.

 

"Hey Xander, this is Julie," Amy said in greeting, indicating the girl.

 

"Hey," Xander said to both.

 

His guess about Amy making friends easily had obviously been right. He wouldn't be surprised to find she had made friends by the end of the week. He had mostly kept himself to himself. He'd avoided the school's football players just in case they turned out to be the usual jerks. He really didn't want to get into a fight whilst still recovering from his assault.

 

"Nice to meet you Xander," Julie replied. "Kind of a strange name," she said, puzzled.

 

"It's short for Alexander, he doesn't like his full name," Amy told her with a smile.

 

"Mind if I call you Alex instead?" she asked.

 

"Not really," Xander answered.

 

"Good. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow Amy," Julie said with smile. "Bye, Alex," she added, giving him a short look before turning and walking away.

 

"Knew you'd make friends easily," Xander said, as he fell into step with Amy and they headed home.

 

"She's in my Math and History class," Amy responded.

 

****

 

Xander stood at the window of their apartment, looking out as night fell. He could feel the urge to go out and patrol even if he wasn't in Sunnydale anymore. He knew vampires were out there, hunting and killing innocent people, but he also knew that if he did whilst he was still recovering, he'd be dead in minutes. Once he'd healed properly, he could start making small patrols. He couldn't turn his back on the fight, not now that he knew what was out there. He hoped Amy would understand his reasons. He had also signed up for some classes in self defense at the local gym. This would help in his recovery and make him less of a target. He needed to change who he was. He couldn't be the so called Zeppo anymore, as Cordelia had once called him. He would make something of himself not just for him, but for Amy and Giles too. He would make their faith in him justified.

 

"I know what you're thinking, you know," Amy's voice came from behind him. "Are you mad, thinking about going out there with no backup?" she asked, clearly annoyed and fearful for his safety.

 

"I can't just try and ignore what's really out there Amy, but don't worry, I won't be going out until I'm ready," he told her, trying to ease her fears.

 

"It's not your responsibility Xander," Amy tried again.

 

"Yes, it is. Innocent people are out there with no clue about what hunts them during the night," Xander responded with passion. "They need someone to watch their backs. I know we have no Slayer here or anything like that, but it's what I have to do," he finished.

 

Amy shook her head. She would have to talk with Mr. Giles about this and maybe he could persuade Xander to be more reasonable. She knew Xander looked up to Giles and valued his opinion. She just hoped he could talk him out of this plan.

 

****

 

Rupert Giles's Home Sunnydale

 

Giles almost spat out his tea when Amy told him about Xander's plan. He couldn't believe it. Although knowing Xander he guessed he shouldn't have been surprised by his plans. The boy had adapted to learning about vampires and demons remarkably well: after staking his best friend Jessie to save Cordelia he had thrown himself into helping Buffy fight the darkness, but now he wouldn't have the advantage of being with a Slayer to help him. It was almost suicidal, but he knew why Xander would want to do this. He had believed he had failed Jessie by not being able to save him. The same went for Kendra and even in small way Jenny. He took each death onto his own shoulders, as if he should have been able to protect them, as if it was his job. He'd do anything to protect those he cared most about.

 

"Mr. Giles, are you still there?" Amy's voice quickly broke him out of his thoughts.

 

"Yes, I am Amy and please, just Giles will do," Giles replied. "I will try and talk to him, but I doubt he will listen Amy," he added.

 

"Why not?" Amy asked, clearly not happy with his answer.

 

"Xander feels responsible for certain people's deaths and any other innocents who died which they could have saved. That's why he was so adamant at helping Buffy. He wanted to save people's lives. He feels as if it's his duty for failing to save those people," Giles tried to explain to her.

 

"But it's not his fault," Amy tried to argue.

 

"No, it's not, but Xander feels that it is," Giles agreed. "Anyway, I will try and talk him out of it, you have my word," Giles promised.

 

"Thanks Mr. I mean Giles," Amy replied sheepishly.

 

"No problem. Goodbye Amy and take care," Giles smiled as he hung up.

 

He sighed. Things were getting out of hand. It would seem that one problem after another kept coming at the members of the gang, even the exiled ones. He hoped Xander would wait until he was fully healed before trying to patrol. He would phone him tonight and try and talk some sense into his friend. He didn't want to see him get himself killed, but he knew Xander wouldn't give up his plans. If that would be the case then maybe he could help, give him advice that would make his chances of survival better.

 

*****

 

Three weeks later

 

Xander walked slowly out of his and Amy's apartment, ready for his first patrol since leaving Sunnydale. He had taken Giles' advice to heart and made sure he was fully fit and had taken as many self defense classes as he could. Giles had also sent him a bunch of weapons through his remaining contacts on the cCouncil, along with a few magical items that might help.

 

One of the items he had sent was used for recovering lost memories, along with a book to invoke the power of the item. He had used it with Amy's help to recover the memories of the night he had been possessed by the Special Forces soldier during the Halloween incident. This combined with his self defense classes had given him a big chance of coming home alive. He was armed with a short sword strapped to his back, a knife, a couple of stakes and a crossbow. He was also wearing a protection amulet Amy had found in the stuff Giles had sent them. It was supposed to protect him from any harmful spells. He hoped it would be enough to save some lives as well as his own.

 

As he made his way through the small section of town that he knew, he made sure to keeps a close eye on his surroundings. He had to remember he had no backup now. He was on his own and it was up to him to make sure he got through this alive. A moment later, to the far right of him, a quick movement caught his eye. He noticed a brunette running from at least three vampires. It would appear his first night back on patrol would be a dangerous one. He quickly ran in the direction the girl had run in, hoping he would get there in time. He just turned the corner only to be knocked down by a flying body colliding with his, knocking the wind out of him.

 

Shaking his head quickly he noticed the body that had hit him was that of one of the vampires. Quickly getting to his feet he fired his crossbow, hitting the vampire in the chest just below the heart. Cursing, he drew one of his stakes and launched himself at the surprised vampire, knocking them both to the ground.

 

The vampire recovered quickly and threw him off easily. Both were quick to get back to their feet. Xander barely had enough time to dodge a wild charge by the vampire. Turning he quickly rushed the vampire again, only to run right into it's foot. Rolling away he kept his eyes locked on his prey as he stalked towards him. Xander waited until it attacked before ducking underneath it's swing and ramming his stake through it's heart, dusting it easily.

 

Barely pausing to a deep breath he ran into the alley to find the vampire leaning over the girl, who looked like she had banged her head on the wall and was bleeding. Quickly running over he staked the vampire before it could reach the girls neck. He quickly made sure there were no other vampires in sight before bending down to check on the girl, only to meet a pair of dark brown eyes staring at him. He became lost in her eyes, not noticing as she sat up and smirked at him. Finally he shook his head and stood, offering his hand to the girl who shrugged him off and stood up.

 

"You ok?" he asked.

 

"Five by five," she answered. "How'd you know what that thing was?" she asked, as she bent down to pick up a stake.

 

"Been fighting them for almost two and half years," he answered. Something not feeling right here. "What about you?" he asked.

 

"My job to dust them," she answered.

 

Suddenly everything clicked into place and he almost burst out laughing. He should have know that after Kendra had died another slayer would be called and just as if fate was trying to tell him something, he had bumped right into her.

 

"You're a slayer?" he asked.

 

The girl frowned at him and began looking a bit uneasy about the easy way he asked that question. He decided he had better be honest, he didn't fancy being on the receiving end of another slayer's fists.

 

"It's ok, I'm no threat," he assured her. "I knew the two slayers called before you," he added.

"How?" she asked, her stake still held firmly in her hand.

"I used to help her, back in Sunnydale where I used to live. I'm sure your Watcher has told you about the people who helped Buffy Summers, right?" he answered.

"She's told me a bit about Summers having a little gang and about her Watcher." The girl paused and then took on a very serious look. "What is Summers' Watcher called, his full name and his nickname?" she asked. "Don't give me a right answer first time round, I stake you," she warned him.

Xander swallowed hard, glad he knew both of the answers to the girl's question. This slayer seemed to be much tougher than either Buffy or Kendra had ever been.

"Rupert Giles, his nickname was 'Ripper'" he answered.

"Follow me. I'm taking you to see my Watcher. She'll know if you're telling the truth," she told him after a few seconds.

"Name's Xander by the way," Xander felt the need to speak, hoping to draw out the girl's name.

"Faith," was the only reply he got.  
3\. Chapter 3

Note: A big thank you to Hawklan and Inachis for betaing this story.

Dark Choices Chapter 3

*****

Faith walked into the apartment where she stayed with her Watcher, Jessica Rine. Jessica had found her when she was only fourteen, a year before she was called. She had given Faith back her hope and put her back on the right track after she had run away from her home and her abusive family.

Jessica had told her about the other slayer, Buffy, to give her hope in her own fight. Buffy had fought many evil vampires and demons and come out of it alive. Mostly due to the friends she had made and who helped her patrol, according to what she had found out from Rupert Giles, Buffy's Watcher, who was a close friend of hers, although Buffy would never admit the help she received. She looked back to where Xander was following, trying to keep his eyes focused ahead of him instead of on her ass. She smiled, knowing that no guy could ever resist taking at least one look. He had tried talking to her a few times, but she had just told him to save it until she was sure he was who he said he was.

"Faith, how did..?" Jessica began before trailing off as she saw the boy behind her. "Who's your friend?" she asked.

"He claims to be one of Summers' friends from Sunnydale," Faith replied, going to the fridge and grabbing two bottles of cola, handing one to Xander.

 

"Really?" Jessica asked, surprised.

 

"He dropped in while I was taking out some vampires. He managed to take out one of them and I got the other two," Faith reported. "I wasn't too sure about him, but he knew Summers' Watcher's name and nickname, so I decided to bring him here," she added.

 

"What's your name?" Jessica asked, facing the young man.

 

"Alexander Harris, but I go by Xander," Xander replied.

 

"You're a long way from Sunnydale Xander, how come?" she asked.

 

"Long story," Xander replied, taking a swig of his cola.

 

"Please sit down and tell us. Once you have I will call Rupert and see if your story checks out," Jessica told him, indicating the chair near the table Faith was sitting at.

 

"You know Giles?" Xander asked as he sat.

 

"Yes, we were close friends before he got assigned to Sunnydale," Jessica answered. "I know some of the events that have gone on, including the group of friends Miss Summers seems to have collected in her fight, including you," she added.

 

"So he's telling the truth?" Faith asked, relaxing a bit.

 

"There is a Alexander Harris in Sunnydale and he did help Miss Summers. Last time I talked to Giles he indicated that Mr. Harris is the reason why there are two slayers now," Jessica answered, facing the girl she had come to think of as a daughter.

 

"Really? How?" Faith asked.

 

"Buffy was destined to die at the hands of the Master, the lead vampire in Sunnydale at the time. Everyone fell into a funk saying there was nothing we could do to save her," Xander answered before Jessica could. "I refused to believe it so I found Angel, her supposed vampire lover, and forced him to take me down to the Master's lair. We found her drowned and I gave her CPR and brought her back, but because she was dead for a few minutes it was enough to call a new slayer," he finished.

 

"Did you just say she was in love with a vampire?" Faith asked, disgusted by the thought.

 

"Yeah, he was supposed to be ok 'cause he had a damn soul," Xander answered bitterly.

 

"You didn't like him, I take it?" Jessica asked, knowing already some of this story.

 

"I hate all vampires, soul or not," Xander replied. "When Buffy first turned up, my best friend Jessie was taken by Darla, Angel's sire. She turned him and I had to stake him the next night to save a bitch I'd hated all through school," Xander told them. "I got the job done, but I had failed Jessie by not being there to save him," he finished.

 

"Why didn't she just stake Angelus?" Jessica asked, knowing who Angel really was.

 

"Like I said, he had a soul, so the others except for Giles trusted him. I hated him the whole time. Giles let him help, but kept a close eye on him. When Buffy fell for him I was almost sick," Xander answered. "Some would say it was just because I was jealous, but it was more than that, he was a vampire, a corpse and she went about kissing him and everything. It was disgusting to watch," he added.

 

"Man, that is really perverted," Faith said with a shake of her head.

 

"We can talk about this later, please tell us why you are in Boston, Xander?" Jessica asked, deciding to get back on topic.

 

"I'm sure you know that Angelus was one of the evilest vampires ever?" Xander asked.

 

"Yes, then about eighty years ago he changed. I take it was because he was cursed with his soul, correct?" Jessica replied.

 

"Yes, Angelus had attacked a Gypsy tribe, killing one of its most beloved daughter's, so he was cursed. He was brought into the fight by a demon named Whistler, according to what Buffy told us. He was supposed to help and guide her, but instead he fell in love with her. However, the curse wasn't permanent, it would be broken if he ever felt a moment of pure happiness," Xander told them.

 

"What happened?" Jessica asked, intrigued by what she was learning.

 

"Buffy gave him his moment of happiness," Xander hissed.

 

"How?" Faith asked.

 

"She had sex with him," Xander replied with a grimace.

 

"That is really gross, she banged a dead guy?" Faith asked, even more sickened that before.

 

"Yes, so the curse was broken and he lost his soul. He soon joined up with Spike and Dru, the resident big bads and his childern, and aided them in their efforts to reconstruct the Judge. We managed to stop it and Buffy had the perfect opportunity to stake Angelus, but she didn't. She let him go because of her feelings," Xander told them, his voice darkening as the memories assaulted him.

 

"Stupid bitch," Faith said.

 

"Yeah, because he went on to terrorize us all. He then killed Miss Calendar, Giles's girlfriend, to stop her from returning his soul," Xander said, his voice even darker than before.

 

Faith and Jessica could both see and feel the hate and anger running off the young man in front of them. It was clear the hate he held for this vampire and its kind was deadly if uncontrolled.

 

"How could she do that?" Jessica enquired.

 

"Miss Calendar was sent to Sunnydale to watch Angel and make sure the curse held. She was a descendant of the tribe who cursed him. When Buffy found out, she attacked Miss Calendar and a split emerged between her and us. Giles and she were almost back together when Angelus killed her. Giles went mad, I think he let Ripper out completely and went to find Angelus and kill him. He found him and fought him, but he was no match for Angelus. Luckily Buffy turned up and saved him," Xander answered.

 

"Poor Rupert, I will have to talk to him about this," Jessica said sadly.

 

"He'll never get over it, neither will I. Miss Calendar was one of the few adults I respected and liked and I valued her opinion. That bastard killed her and all Buffy could do was mope about how she had lost the love of her life."

 

"What happened next?" Jessica asked.

 

"Angelus and the others found out that an old demon had been found. He was called Acathla and so they stole it, so they could open it and bring about hell on Earth. By this time Buffy had found the disk Miss Calendar had downloaded the soul spell onto and all she could was whine about returning Angel's soul. She didn't care that the bastard had killed her Watcher's girlfriend or tormented us all. All she wanted was her damn boyfriend back. A huge argument broke out, but Willow and the others sided with her, well except Cordelia at the time. She didn't listen and so Willow prepared to cast the spell. Kendra had shown up by this point, the slayer before you," Xander continued looking at Faith.

 

"How did she die?" Faith asked.

 

"Angelus baited Buffy, which was very easily done since she thought everything was about her. She left to go and fight him and then we were attacked at the library. The attack was led by Dru. She killed Kendra, I got a broken arm and Willow was put into a coma. Giles was captured because only he could tell Angelus how to open the portal through Acathla. They tortured him for hours, but he didn't crack, so they tricked him instead. Dru has magically powers and made herself look like Miss Calendar and Giles told her what they needed to know," Xander answered.

 

"That must have been really heartbreaking for Rupert when he found out the truth," Jessica said, feeling for her friend.

 

"Yes, he was devastated. Spike made a deal with Buffy to take Dru out of the fight and leave Sunnydale, making it easier for Buffy to take Angelus. It seems he didn't like the way things were. She agreed and so everything was set for a final showdown. Willow came out of her coma and was adamant about doing the soul spell again. She sent me to tell Buffy," Xander suddenly halted and stood up, walking over to the window as he relived those events.

 

Faith and Jessica both watched him curiously. They both were concerned with the way the boy was acting. Whatever had happened during that last fight, it had been something big.

 

"As soon as I looked into her eyes I knew for certain that if she knew about the spell, she would hold back and wait to give Willow time and that would be all Angelus needed to win. I'd be damned if I'd risk the world just for her boyfriend, so I lied about what Willow had said and Buffy went in to kill Angel. I got Giles out of the place and took him to the hospital. Buffy fought Angelus, but in the end he managed to open Acathla anyway and just then Willow completed the spell and Angel's soul was back. She had no choice, but to send him to hell as only his blood could close the portal again. We'd won."

 

After a moment of silence he spoke up again suddenly. "For a while things seem to be going well. Well, after Buffy came back from running away after killing Angelus anyway, but five weeks ago everything fell apart," Xander added before beginning to shake violently, as that night began to play in his mind again.

 

Jessica noticed and quickly stood and walked over to him and placed her hands on his shoulders, trying to calm him down. After a few minutes the shakes began to die down, but they were still visible to Faith and Jessica. Jessica led him back to the table and sat him down.

 

"She had found about my lie and almost killed me in a brutal attack. My supposed friends just stood and watched, thinking I deserved it. If Giles hadn't turned up in time, I would have been dead, he saved my life. I was in a coma for a day or two before Amy, a friend of mine and a witch, used a spell to save my life. After I came to and Giles turned up, I told him I was leaving. He agreed with my reasoning and helped us set it up. Amy decided to come with me to make sure I was ok," Xander finished, finally slumping down in his chair.

 

"She tried to kill you because of a stupid vampire?" Faith asked angrily.

 

"Yes," Xander replied brokenly.

 

"Why were you out so late?" Jessica asked.

 

"I was patrolling. Giles and Amy had tried to talk me out of it, but I wouldn't listen. I may not be a slayer, but ever since I found out the truth I haven't been able to turn my back. So I trained and also Giles helped me access the soldier memories I have from the Halloween incident and I finally felt ready to start patrolling," he answered, feeling tired and drained.

 

"I see," Jessica replied thoughtfully. "A very interesting story," she replied before standing and heading for the phone to call Rupert.

 

Faith looked over at Xander, seeing how weary he seemed. It had been clear to her that answering some of those questions had been very hard on him. She couldn't believe Summers almost killed him over a damn vampire. It was sickening to even think about it. She turned to see her Watcher on the phone and could tell whatever she was being told wasn't something she liked. She hoped Xander's story was true, she kind of liked him. He had a fire in him that drew her to him and something else about his eyes, something similar to her own background that called to her.

 

Finally Jessica hung up and returned to the table and sat back down. She looked over at the young man sitting across from her. After speaking to Rupert she had a new appreciation for him and what he'd been through. She had promised Rupert that she would look out for Xander and his friend as best she could.

 

"Rupert has confirmed your story, adding some other details. What Miss Summers did to you was appalling and she should pay for her actions. If the Council ever finds out, she would be terminated, but Rupert has asked me not to say anything due to your own request," Jessica told them. "Why?" she asked him.

 

"She's the slayer and Sunnydale needs her, no matter what she did," Xander answered. "If she wasn't there, Giles and the others would be targets for any new vampire who turns up. She has a rep that the vampires fear," he added.

 

"I see. You care a great deal about people, don't you?" Jessica asked, seeing just why Giles thought so highly of the young man.

 

"It's just the way I am. They need to be protected from what's out there," Xander shrugged.

 

"It's a good trait to have. Rupert has asked that you be allowed to patrol with Faith," Jessica told him with a smile.

 

Xander was a bit surprised by that, as was Faith. She had never had anyone to watch her back before. She looked to Xander who was watching her, waiting to see what she'd say.

 

"Is he any good in a fight?" Faith asked her Watcher.

 

"According to Rupert yes, he is, especially now that he has access to these soldier memories he mentioned. I believe you can trust him Faith," Jessica answered.

 

"Ok, if you and this Giles think it's a good idea, he can help out," Faith agreed, still somewhat unsure about how she felt about this situation.

 

"Meet us here at eight Xander, we can talk more then. I think it's time you headed home, Faith will accompany you," Jessica told them both.

 

"Thanks, I feel really drained after all that. Don't think I'd be too much good in a fight at the moment," Xander said, holding back a yawn.

 

*****

 

Amy smiled as Xander finally got home. She had stayed up, no matter how late it got. He seemed pretty good, just tired and emotionally drained for some reason. She suddenly noticed the dark haired girl coming in behind him.

 

"Xander, who's that?" she asked, ready with a spell if she was dangerous.

 

"This is Faith, Amy. She's a slayer," Xander answered.

"Oh," Amy said, shocked.

"Nice to meet you," Faith nodded, before turning to face Xander again. "I'll see you tomorrow, Xander," she told him before turning and exiting the apartment.

"Want to tell me what happened?" Amy asked.

"Not tonight Amy. I just want to sleep," he replied before heading to his bedroom.

*****

Jessica watched as Faith finally returned home after seeing Xander home. She sat down next to her, waiting for her to speak.

"So, what else did Giles say about Xander?" Faith inquired.

"He has a very deep protective streak in him. He is very loyal to his friends and would die to protect them," Jessica replied. "He is prone to taking risks in order to help out, which we will have to watch out for, plus if he thinks you are being stupid, he will stand up to you," she added.

"Interesting," Faith smiled, liking the sound of the challenge knowing Xander would bring.  
4\. Chapter 4

Note: A big thank you to Hawklan and Inachis for betaing this story.

Dark Choices Chapter 4

Xander entered the apartment where Faith and her Watcher were living. He was feeling somewhat nervous, he knew without a doubt he was in for a night of more questions about what had brought him to Boston. Part of him didn't mind, but another, the one traumatized by the events, hated the very thought of it. Faith walked back into the kitchen in front of him, after letting him in. She was hoping to get to know the boy who would be backing her up a little better.

Jessica waited at the table, drinking a cup of tea. She had phoned Rupert this morning and had a very long talk with him. Not just about Xander, but also the loss of his lover, Jenny Calendar. She really felt for her friend and she wished she could be there for him, but for now, she couldn't. Rupert had been even more steadfast that she looked out for Xander. She could tell he cared for the boy a lot. She had sworn she would and she had meant it, not only for the boy's sake, but also for Faith's.

She had not been blind the night before. She had seen the look in Faith's eyes. She liked the boy, there was something about him, something different from all the others that tried to get her into bed with them. She had a good idea about what it was after talking to Rupert. His family life was almost identical to Faith's and she believed it was this that made Faith like him, even though she had just met him.

"Hello Xander," she said politely as he entered.

"Hey," he nodded before taking a chair.

"I had a long chat with Rupert today. Some of the events he has told me about were quite incredible, especially seeing as you've had no training or any special abilities to help you with them," Jessica began.

"You don't need to be special to fight evil. You just have to make the choice to do it," Xander shot back.

"I agree," Jessica told him with a smile. "The council, at first, did not like the fact that Rupert had allowed Miss Summers to have friends involved in her calling. However, it became clear to them that the unit could not be broken," she continued. "The success of the unit she had formed around her is what stopped the Council from using, in my opinion, unnecessary force to break it up," she finished.

"What kind of force?" Xander asked, somewhat intrigued.

"Brutal force. In their opinion, no one can be allowed to interfere with the slayer and her destiny. You and your other friends would be classed as distractions and removed in anyway needed to get her back on her own; even Rupert could be removed, if they believed he had become a risk," she informed him.

"That's evil," Xander said, beginning to really dislike the Watcher's Council, minus Giles, and he had to admit, he was beginning to like Jessica too, even though this was only his second meeting with her.

"Not all of the Council is like this, but I'm afraid most of the higher Council is," Jessica said, saddened. "I fear what will happen when Faith's Cruciamentum comes up," she admitted.

"Ain't no way they are putting me through that, Jess," Faith spat, speaking for the first time.

"They'll kill you if you don't obey them. A rogue slayer is the worst thing they could imagine and they'd do anything to stop it," Jessica warned.

"They can come. She won't be going into this fight alone. I'll be going too," Xander said, his voice filled with anger.

"If they caught you interfering, they would kill you and most likely me and Faith as well," Jessica cautioned them.

"It's a chance I'll take, Jess. I ain't putting my life on the line just so some old guys can see if I'm any good," Faith hissed. "I'm not a tool," she spat.

Jessica quickly stood and walked over to comfort the upset girl. She knew how much it took for Faith to trust people and it was clear, after what she had revealed to them, she didn't trust the Council. She couldn't blame her, neither she nor Rupert did either. She noticed a small smile play on Xander's lips. She guessed it was due to the fact that she cared about her slayer.

"I think we better change the subject. Your Cruciamentum isn't for another two years. That's plenty of time to come up with a plan," Jessica soothed her.

"Ok," Faith mumbled, allowing her feelings to come out.

Jessica quickly moved Faith over to one of the chairs and sat her down before moving to the fridge and getting something for the two teens to drink. She sat down again and spent a few minutes in silent contemplation.

"You ok?" Xander asked Faith.

Faith looked at him for a few minutes. She didn't know whether to snap at him for asking and making it sound like she was weak or just to answer and allow him in. Finally, she decided to answer. The look in his eyes was enough to convince her that his concern was real. Most guys used it as an act to get close so they could get her in bed. Her own mother's boyfriend had tried it on her. That was when she began to distrust people. It had gotten worse as time had passed, until Jessica had arrived and taken her from her abusive family and helped her regain herself. She knew Xander had the same kind of background as she had. She could see it in his eyes.

"I'm ok," Faith answered finally.

"Xander, from what Rupert has told me, you have a good ability for doing research as well as helping to patrol," Jessica finally began again.

"I'm ok at it, Willow was..." Xander began to answer before trailing off as he thought of his former lifelong friend. The pain of her betrayal was still firmly in place. The blank look on her face as Buffy almost killed him remained planted in his memory.

Both Jessica and Faith noticed him fall silent and both could see his eyes contort in pain. Jessica knew just how much the events that had transpired had affected the boy in front of them. She had told Faith as much as she could; she felt it best Xander told her the rest. Finally, Xander seemed to get his emotions back under control.

"Willow was the one who really got the research done. She really enjoyed doing it, either by using the computer or going through Giles's books," Xander told them.

"Still, I think you could help me with research if I need it," Jessica smiled. Rupert had told her he would try and find some way out of it.

"Ok," Xander nodded reluctantly.

"Good, now I think we've gone over enough for tonight," Jessica smiled at him. "You and Faith better do a patrol run, but only a small one for now. Until you two know each other better, it's best you not get into anything too big," she added.

"Five by five," Faith nodded.

*****

Xander walked slightly behind Faith to keep an eye on their backs. He had learned much from his time in Sunnydale and from his newly returned soldier memories. He was hoping to prove tonight that Faith could trust him to watch her back. He felt strangely connected to the raven-haired slayer. He didn't understand why yet, but there was something about her eyes he recognized.

He had spent most of the morning telling Amy everything that had happened the night before, his meeting with Faith and then her Watcher Jessica. Amy had seemed somewhat concerned that there was another slayer in the exact town they had moved to. He had assured her both Faith and Jessica seemed to be trustworthy. He suddenly remembered that he was supposed to ask Jessica if she would meet with Amy. He'd have to do it when they finished patrol.

"Hey X," Faith said, coming to a halt in front of him, breaking his concentration.

"What?" he asked, becoming alert that somewhat might be up.

"Mind if I ask you some questions?" she asked, keeping her eyes fixed on him.

"Sure," he nodded, feeling he needed to, no, wanted to gain her trust.

"This Summers, how committed is she to being the slayer?" she asked, surprising him.

Xander didn't know why she had asked that question. He had believed she would start asking questions about his betrayal by his friends. He tried very hard not think about Buffy or Willow anymore, but to answer her question truthfully he would have to remember them. What he came up with was quite annoying to him.

"She isn't at all. From what I gathered, the only time she was, was before her first watcher Merrick died, saving her from the master vampire Lothos," he answered. "Once she beat Lothos, she fought on until she burnt down the school gym and was kicked out. She came Sunnydale with her mother with no intention of continuing her role as the slayer," he told her. "All she did was whine and moan about it to Giles or sneak out to see Angel. Her mind was never on the right page," he continued, feeling a burning resentment begin to form toward his former friend as he realized she wasn't committed to the fight. "She didn't care about the lives she saved by being the slayer, just how much being the slayer messed up her life," he finished.

"No wonder she died," Faith commented.

"She died because she didn't let us, her friends, help," Xander couldn't help but add. "There were quite a few times when she believed everything was about her and every time she did, people got hurt or killed," he went on.

"Sounds like a real self-centered bitch," Faith said, with a growing dislike for the other slayer.

"I never noticed it before. I only saw it once before and that was when she almost lap danced me at the Bronze, just to make her undead lover jealous," Xander told her. "I really hated her for that; it was just after she got back from LA for the summer. She put it down to the fact that she was still getting over being dead for those few minutes. I don't believe it for a second. She put everyone I cared for in danger 'cause she couldn't put her personal problems aside and focus on the job at hand," he continued. "I threatened her I'd kill her that night if anything happened to Willow 'cause of her lack of focus," he added, remembering all too well those events.

Faith was about to respond when her senses suddenly went wild and she knew they were being approached by a group of vampires. She quickly grabbed her stake and was surprised to see Xander grab the sword he carried off his back and face behind them. He knew they were there, but how was beyond her. She'd have to ask him later.

"Slayer," the lead vampire spat as the group stepped into their line of view. "The master has had enough of your meddling," it added as it switched to its game face.

"Hey fang, I'm not impressed," Faith shot back almost casually.

"They never have anything better to say; it's always with the doom and gloom," Xander muttered before dropping into a fighting stance, ready for the attack.

The vampires looked at each other for a few seconds, somewhat unnerved by the slayer and her friend's attitude. Finally, the leader just snarled at them before jumping at Faith, who easily dodged the attack and knocked him flying into a nearby trash can with a side kick.

Xander jumped forward and cut off three other vampires as they tried to rush Faith. He quickly cut the leg of one before sending the hilt of the sword into the face of the second. He barely managed to dodge the third's attack and swept its legs out from under it.

Faith was impressed with Xander's skill, taking a moment to watch him before charging the remaining two vampires coming at them. Jumping into a spinning kick, she knocked the first of them into a wall, before turning to stake the second before it could even launch an attack. She just smirked at the shocked look on its face as it turned to dust. She turned to check on Xander only to see he had dusted the vamp he had cut the leg off of and was now facing off against the other two. His face showed a calm reserve and she knew he didn't need any help yet.

Snapping back to the fight at hand, she turned just in time to see the second vampire charging at her. She just shook her head and waited until he was within reach and launched a devastating crescent kick in its face, followed up with a low kick taking out its legs. She smiled as she heard a slight snap come from one of the vampire's legs. She staked it as soon it as it hit the ground. She turned to see Xander was on the floor with the leader of the gang above him with his own sword pointed at Xander's back. Her eyes became narrowed as she summoned her strength and quickly launched her stake at the vampire just as it started to

bring the sword down. It hit the vampire's chest dead on, dusting it instantly.

She quickly ran over to check on Xander. He slowly got to his feet, shaking his head as he felt behind it. As he brought his hand back, they both noticed it was bloody. Xander hissed in anger at being blindsided.

"Come on, let's get back to Jess's," Faith said, taking a last look around. "I wanna check that wound," she added.

*****

Jessica was somewhat concerned when Faith and Xander returned and reported what had happened. So, there was a master vampire in Boston. Faith had so far never gone up against a master vampire before. Jess had hoped they'd have gotten the name of the vampire so she could start researching.

She watched as Faith cleaned the wound on Xander's head. She was careful not to cause Xander any more pain than he already felt. Faith had taken to the first aid classes she had taught her well.

"Xander, how did you know the vampires were behind us?" Faith finally asked as she finished cleaning his wound.

"I sensed them. I think that spell we used to recover my memories also released some of the traits I had when I was processed by the hyena," Xander answered, somewhat troubled by that fact.

"You needn't be worried Xander. The spirit itself was removed from your mind, so there is no way it can retake control of you," Jessica interjected, having gone over this with Rupert himself. "However, it is possible for the spell to allow you to access certain traits of the spirit, such as its powerful senses and maybe it's strength as well," she told him. "I will do a little research on the matter to find out more," she finished.

"Thanks," Xander smiled, relived.

"What was it like, being possessed?" Faith asked, intrigued.

"Horrible, it was a nightmare," Xander answered, shuddering at the memory. "I remember everything it did while it controlled me. It tried to rape Buffy. It was really horrible to Willow and made me eat a pig," he added.

"Gross," Faith said with a shake of her head.

"The only consolation I have is that they never knew I remembered what happened, only Giles knew and he kept it to himself," Xander added.

"You didn't want them to be uncomfortable around you, correct?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah, it would have been really annoying if they kept giving me weird looks 'cause I remembered the events, so I never told them," Xander nodded.

"I can understand why you didn't," Jessica told him. "Now what concerns me is this master, the vampire you mentioned," she added, deciding to get back onto serious matters.

"If it *is* a master vampire, then we're in for some real trouble," Xander commented.

"Agreed, you and Faith will have to be very careful from now on. I suggest you also warn your friend Amy," Jessica told them both.

"Good idea," Xander agreed. "Speaking of Amy, she wants to meet you," Xander told her.

"Bring her to see me tomorrow," Jessica replied.  
5\. Chapter 5

Note: A big thank you to Hawklan and Inachis for betaing this story and this is just a small chapter *g*

Dark Choices Chapter 5

Amy followed Xander into the house where the new slayer and her watcher lived. She had no idea why she had wanted to meet Xander's new friends, except to make sure they posed no threat to her friend.

She noticed the dark-haired girl, Faith, sitting by the kitchen table, watching them enter the room. Her brown eyes tracked her as she sat down in front of the woman who was clearly the watcher.

"Nice to meet you, Amy," Jessica said in greeting. "Xander has told me quite a bit about you, including the fact that you're a very strong witch," she added.

"Yes, I am. Although it took me a while to appreciate my powers and not use them for myself," Amy replied.

"But the fact that you have truly accepted how dangerous your powers can be, shows your true character," Jessica said thoughtfully.

Amy nodded her head in agreement. She sensed no threat from either of the two women. In fact she felt a calming presence from the watcher.

"Now I was wondering if you'd be interested in joining Xander and Faith on patrol. With this master vampire in town, they might need the extra help," Jessica asked, as she leaned back in her seat.

Amy was a little surprised by the offer, but she saw a slight hint of fear in the watcher's eyes. Fear for her charge and maybe for Xander as well. She felt that fear now engulf her as well when she thought of what this vampire could do to Xander. There was no way she was going to risk losing him ever again, not after what happened with Buffy.

"I'll help out if I can, but I've never really faced any vampires before," Amy finally spoke.

"Don't worry Amy. Faith and I will train you to fight and not rely on your magic. Xander will be beginning his training with us as well," Jessica told her.

Xander seemed a little surprised at this, but quickly nodded his head in agreement. After facing off against Angelus, Spike and Drusilla, he knew how bad a master vampire could be. They would need all the training and luck they could muster.

"Jess, I think she should stay here and help you research until she's been trained up a bit. It'll be too damn risky otherwise," Faith quickly spoke up, hoping to spend some more time alone with Xander to get to know him better without his friend there to interrupt them. She didn't mind Amy, she seemed like a good person and it was clear her friendship with Xander meant a lot to her.

"I'd have to agree with Faith. Until she has some solid combat training, it'd just be too risky for her and us," Xander agreed, sending Amy an apologetic look for agreeing with Faith.

Amy noticed the slight fear in Xander's eyes and she knew instantly what was running through his head. If she were to be hurt or killed whilst on patrol before she was ready, he'd blame himself endlessly for it.

"Ok," she said.

"That's the first thing sorted out. Now we need to discover who this master vampire is. I want you to go to the local demon bar and see if you can't learn anything Faith. Xander, you go too, to watch her back. They're a rough lot," Jessica told them.

Both Faith and Xander nodded their agreement with her plan.

"Amy and me will start some training on the basics of defense," Jessica added.  
6\. Chapter 6

Note: A big thank you to Hawklan and Inachis for betaing this story.

Dark Choices Chapter 6

Faith walked side by side with Xander as she led him to the local demon bar. Faith had been told to avoid this place unless it was necessary. She guessed now that Jessica knew a master vamp was in town, she wanted any information on it fast, but she still knew they had to be very careful once they entered the bar.

 

She turned to Xander to find him lost in his own thoughts. She wondered just how badly Summers had beaten him and if the effects of it had truly left him. She doubted it, which added to what she guessed he had gone through in his childhood must really be weighing heavily on him.

 

"You ok?" His sudden question caught her by surprise, but she quickly recovered.

 

"Five by five," she answered. "Mind if I ask you some more questions?" she asked somewhat hesitantly.

 

"Go ahead," he shuddered as if suddenly cold.

 

"Why did you stick around so long if Summers and the others didn't really let you help?" she asked, drawing on what Jessica had told her.

 

Xander didn't seem too surprised that she knew more about him than he did about her. He had guessed Jessica would fill her in on some things about his past.

 

"I wanted to help people who didn't know what was stalking them at night. It wasn't just Buffy and Willow I wanted to make sure lived. It was people like Amy and even Cordelia," he answered. "But they never saw that. Giles did, but the others, they didn't. They most likely didn't want to see it," he added. "Once Willow became friends with Buffy, she changed, she became as selfish and cold as Buffy was," he finished.

 

"Must've been hard to stand and watch that," Faith wondered.

 

"It was. If Jessie had lived, he would have been horrified to see the change from the sweet caring girl we had known since we were three to a cold and self serving bitch," Xander answered.

 

Faith noticed they had arrived at their destination. She took a breath and looked to her new partner. He looked back at her with a cold stare which clearly stated he was ready.

 

Faith entered first and did a quick scan. There were at least five vampires at the back of the bar, the rest were a variety of demons. Some she recognized from Jessica's books, but others she didn't. They all looked at them as they entered. Xander quickly moved to a flanking position which allowed him to see most of the bar, as Faith headed to where the barman stood.

 

He looked human to Xander, but then he might be either a vampire or even a demon half-breed. Xander had done a lot of reading on the subjects of demons and their different types during the long nights of research they had done in the library before Buffy had attacked him.

 

The barman looked slightly nervous as Faith approached him with a determined look on her face. The vampires at the back quickly turned to watch her. Xander quickly reached behind and grabbed one of his stakes just in case trouble started.

 

"What do you want here, Slayer?" the barman asked, trying to sound hard. "You have never come in here before, all the customers here just want to be left alone," he added.

 

"I want to know the name of the lead vampire and I want to know now," Faith responded as she stood in front of him.

 

The vampires at the back quickly stood and began making their way towards Faith and the barman. Xander quickly hefted his stake and launched it at the lead vampire, striking it dead center in the heart, dusting it instantly. The four vampires left stopped advancing for a few seconds and looked at each other in shock before moving once again.

 

The demons in the bar quickly moved away. They had no wish to get involved, but were up to watching a good fight. Xander quickly pulled the sword he was carrying from his back and moved to attack the vamps. Faith just stayed where she was as the barman quickly moved away. Then, once the first vampire was in range, she snapped out a sharp kick to its leg, breaking it in half. Xander quickly launched himself at another of the vampires. Faith had already drawn one of her stakes and attacked the third and fourth vampire as the first clutched its leg in pain.

 

*

 

Amy was a little confused at some of what Jessica was telling her. She had never been one for physical things, especially not fighting. When she had discovered she could do magic, after she had gotten her body back from her mother, she had believed she would never have to get into a situation where she'd need to. But now, to help Xander and their new friends Faith and Jessica, she would have to learn how to fight and not rely on her magic too much.

 

Jessica was in the process of trying to teach Amy some basic defense moves. She was finding it quite difficult, but then that didn't surprise the watcher. The girl had never had any experiences like this before, unlike Xander who, thanks to Giles, had the soldier memories and skills to drawn upon on top of his own experiences.

 

"Not bad, Amy. This will take time and a lot of patience, but you'll pick it up eventually," Jessica told her with a smile.

 

"My legs hurt a bit," Amy told her.

 

"They will after each session for a short while, until you get used to it," Jessica replied as they sat down at the table.

 

Amy was also quite tired; they had been at this for two hours. She wondered how Xander and Faith were getting on at the demon bar.

*

 

Xander hit the back of the bar hard, but quickly got back to his feet and rushed the vampire he was fighting. He had lost his sword after his initial charge. The vampire had managed to grab his arm and squeezed so much that he had dropped it, but he had managed to get it to release him with a quick strike to his solar plexus.

 

Faith had quickly dusted one of the vampires, but the other was proving to be a little more difficult to kill. It must have been an older vampire than the others; if that was the case, then it was stronger than the others.

 

"Time to die human," the vampire snarled as it charged Xander.

 

Xander barely had time to move out of the way before the vampire smashed into him. He quickly dropped to a crouching position and shot out his foot and tripped the vampire over. He quickly got to his feet and reached for his sword, but before he could grab it the vampire on the floor quickly grabbed his leg and yanked him back to the floor.

 

Faith threw the vampire she was fighting over her shoulder. It was stronger than most she had fought, but she still had the advantage in speed. She took a quick look back to see Xander on the floor trying to get out of the grip of the vampire whose leg she had broken while the other stalked him. She grabbed one of her stakes and threw it at the vampire on the ground, dusting it and freeing Xander to fight.

 

She turned back to see her own opponent get back to its feet and snarl at her. She just smirked, angering the vampire who wasn't used to its victims fighting back, well not for this long.

 

Xander was getting a little tired, but he forced himself to get back up to his feet. He waited as the vampire once again rushed him. This time he seemed to tap into a burst of speed he didn't know he had and rolled to the side, grabbed his sword and quickly shot back to his feet as the vampire went past where he had been. He swung his sword, decapitating the vampire. The rest of its body exploded a few seconds later.

 

He dropped to the ground, fighting to stay awake. Wherever that burst of speed had come from, it had drained him of whatever energy he had left. He would have to have a word with Giles. He had an uneasy idea where it had come from.

 

Faith shot out a spin kick, catching the vampire squarely in the ribs, knocking it back a few feet. She pushed forward, shooting out her hand and smashing the palm of her hand into the vampire's face, causing it to cry out in pain and rage. She noticed the stake she had dropped when she had dusted the first of the vampires and quickly rolled and picked it up. She turned to see the vampire jump at her.

 

She turned slightly and allowed the vampire to land right next to her, but before it could react, she rammed the stake straight through its heart, dusting it. That had been a hard fight, but they had managed it. She turned and headed for the barman, who looked quite scared now.

 

"Now the name!" she demanded.

 

"Ok, Ok," the barman hissed. "His name is Kakistos. He's an ancient vampire, been around for a while. His second is a vampire called Trick, he's dangerous," he said quickly. "Now leave, please. You're disrupting my business."

 

"Thanks," Faith said with a smile.

 

She quickly walked over and helped Xander to his feet and slowly they made their way back to Jessica's, both tired and somewhat leery of another attack.  
7\. Chapter 7

Note: A big thank you to Hawklan and Inachis for betaing this story.

 

Dark Choices Chapter 7

 

Jessica and Amy looked up as they heard the door open and then close again. They saw Faith, supporting a tired looking Xander, enter the kitchen and almost collapse into the empty chairs. Both looked somewhat weary, especially Xander, but then that was no surprise. He didn't have the advantage of the slayer spirit inside him. Faith's special healing would already have kicked in by now.

 

"How did it go?" Jessica asked after a few minutes.

 

"We got the name, but only after we had to get through five vampires. They must have been working for him," Faith reported. "Two of them were pretty hard to dust, but we managed it in the end," she added.

 

"If they did work for him and they heard you asking questions about their leader, it would be obvious they would attack you," Jessica agreed.

 

"But at least you made it through," Amy put in. She had a worried look on her face as she looked Xander over. He had a few bruises on his face, but surprisingly not as many as she would have expected.

 

"Yeah, we made a good team," Xander spoke for the first time since they had arrived back.

 

Faith looked at Xander for a few minutes before a smile made its way to her face and facing Jessica, nodded her agreement with Xander's statement.

 

Jessica was pleased to hear that Faith was getting on with Xander and seemed to trust him to watch her back in a fight. This eased her concerns. Now that Faith was going up against a master vampire, which reminded her... "I take it you got the name of the vampire we will be facing?" she asked.

 

"Yeah, we got it... and the name of his second," Faith answered.

 

"From the way the barman was talking, this vampire is quite old," Xander added. "Which means he'll be even harder to beat," he continued.

 

"The barman said his name is Kakistos," Faith told her. "And his second is called Trick. According to the barman, he's dangerous," she added.

 

"I see. We'll start researching them tomorrow. I think you two should stay here tonight. You're both tired," Jessica said, turning to Xander and Amy. "I'll show you to the spare room," she said as she stood. The two teens followed, leaving Faith to her own thoughts about what they were about to face and her growing fondness of Xander.

 

*

 

Giles rubbed the bridge of his nose for the ninth time since the phone call from Jessica an hour ago. He had been researching Kakistos and Trick. What he had found was not encouraging and made him worry for the lives of his friends up in Boston.

 

Kakistos had been alive longer than Angelus, which meant he would be more powerful and harder to kill. It also stated that he had killed at least four slayers in his time and one of them had been considered the best slayer seen in a long time. However, what worried Giles was the fact that there were rumors he had turned one of the slayers he had fought, but there was no evidence to support it.

 

As for Trick, the information he had managed to find was also quite distressing. Trick had been reported to have killed two slayers and was responsible for an attack on a group of watchers as well. He had a dangerous reputation and he hoped Jessica and Faith were up to the challenge. He had hope. With Xander and Amy's presence, it would give them a better chance of survival. He reached for the phone and dialed Jessica's number, hoping to catch her before she went to bed.

 

+++

 

Jessica placed the phone back onto the cradle. Her face had paled from the information Giles had managed to find in an hour. It reminded her of why Giles had been chosen to be a field watcher in the first place, he was one of the best researchers the council had.

 

The two vampires they faced were more dangerous than she had thought. Her fears for Faith, and now Xander and Amy, increased. They needed more help. She doubted the Council would send any, but she decided to try tomorrow. She had also thought of asking Giles to send Miss Summers to help, but then quickly dismissed that idea when she thought what she might do when she saw Xander.

 

She yawned; she was tired and drained from the day's events and decided to turn in. She knew they would have a lot to do in the coming days.

 

+++

 

Faith tossed and turned in her bed as images she could barely make out continued to plague her. She saw herself fighting a tall dark vampire. He was wearing a suit. He was taunting her. She also saw Jessica, Xander and Amy chained to the wall behind her. All of them looked badly beaten, maybe even tortured. There was someone else as well, in the shadows, watching them. Suddenly she saw a pair of red eyes flash in the darkness and woke, almost crying out in fear.

 

She woke, shivering from what she had seen. Jessica had told her about the prophetic dreams the slayers had and she knew, without a doubt, what she had just seen was what could happen to them all. She prayed she would have what it took to survive and protect Jessica and the others.

+++

Xander heard a slight cry come from Faith's room. His first instinct was to go and see if she was all right, but he stopped himself. As good as things were becoming between him and the dark-haired slayer, they weren't on a level where she would except any comfort from him. He hoped, in time, they would become good friends; while a deeper part of himself felt an attraction to her and was hoping for something more to happen.

 

He knew the vampires they were going up against were dangerous and he had a dark foreboding about what was to come. He vowed he would make sure Amy, Faith and Jessica would survive, even if it meant his own life was forfeit.

 

Amy couldn't sleep, she was scared of what she had gotten into. She had no regrets about coming here with Xander, but she had never thought it would lead to what it had. She had never thought about vampires before and especially not any master vampires. She was fearful about what was to come. She feared for herself and Xander and even Faith and Jessica. However, she was determined to stand and fight and help them because she knew lives were at stake, not just theirs, but others as well. Those who did not know what dwelt in the dark.  
8\. Chapter 8

Note: A big thank you to Hawklan and Inachis for betaing this story.

Dark Choices Chapter 8

Faith woke up slowly. She hadn't been able to get to sleep until three in the morning. The dreams had continued to plague her well into the night and after they stopped, her own imagination kept her awake.

She lay back against the head board and wondered just what was going to happen, for a long time she’d had only herself to look out for. She had run away from home at the age of twelve after the abusive nature of her mother and her line of boyfriends got to be too much. For two years she had lived on the streets, fighting to stay alive. Sometimes she had been forced to do some extreme things to get food and clothes. Then something happened. During a fight with a gang of drug dealers she had run into, she suddenly became strong like never before. She was also faster than she had ever been.

She had won the fight although she had injured some of the gang badly. Afterwards she continued to find that things about her were different now. It scared her at first and she tried hard to not draw any attention to herself. Then her life had changed when Jessica had found her in the backstreet's of Boston. She had been almost dead from starvation although the slayer essence seemed to be doing all it could to keep her alive. It had taken three weeks before she had begun to trust Jessica and to begin to accept what and who she was.

Once she had accepted the truth of what had happened to her, she began to train, learning from Jessica how to fight and to survive. Their relationship began to change from watcher and slayer to an almost mother and daughter relationship. She couldn't imagine her life now without Jessica in it.

Now things had changed again. She was beginning to make friends, something she had never thought was possible, not from the way her life had run so far, but it had happened. Xander and Amy were her friends, but that wasn't all of it; there was something more to it than that when it came to Xander.

As soon as she had met Xander, she had felt an instant connection to him. It had disturbed her at first, but after they had arrived at the house and began to discuss how he had arrived and what had happened to him, she began to see something in Xander's eyes she instantly recognized. Pain, deep rooted pain. It was something she had seen nearly every day until she had met Jessica. Xander had lived a life almost identical to hers, she was sure of it.

It had been that knowledge that had first drawn her to the young man who was to become her partner when patrolling. After the seven nights of patrolling together, she come to trust him and began to fall for him. His sense of humor was very appealing, especially to her, and made her feel relaxed in a way she had never felt before. He also had an open and honest look about him that she found hard not to stare at. He had a fire inside him that she loved, it was like the one she had within herself.

*

Xander yawned as he woke up. He felt quite refreshed and yet he still felt a sense of foreboding about the upcoming war that was to erupt between them and this new vampire master. Even after fighting the Master, Angelus, Spike and Drusilla and defeating them, something about this new threat made them look like children; the look on Jessica's face when she went to bed last night sent chills down his spine.

He wondered if Faith was up yet. He shook his head, somewhat confused about why he had thought about the dark-haired slayer almost as soon as he had woken up. He quickly got up and went for a shower, but as the warm water cascaded down him he couldn't stop a picture of Faith coming into his head. He had to admit he was attracted to her, with a passion he had never experienced before; not with Cordelia and definitely not with Buffy.

Something about the dark-haired slayer drew him to her, her eyes were almost hypnotic and he found it almost impossible not to stare at them. There was something else about her that he found appealing. He wasn't too sure about it yet, but he believed she had suffered the same abusive past as he had. It was like they were mirror images of each other. He hoped to sit down with her and talk about it sometime when their friendship was stronger.

+++

3 months later

Xander sat at the table while Amy tended to the deep wound he had suffered in their last fight with Kakistos' vampires. This time Trick, his second, had been there and he had almost killed Faith before Xander had jumped in the way, taking the shot to his shoulder. It had almost been his head. If he hadn't lost his balance and Faith hadn't pulled him forward in time, it would have been. They had only managed to escape thanks to one of Amy's spells. She had continued to learn how to control her magic while training hand-to-hand combat with Jessica, who had a little experience with magic herself.

They had taken down a dozen of the master vampire's followers, which included demons he had hired to help him carry out his schemes, but he always seemed to have more to send against them and they had not come up against Kakistos himself yet. They had only fought Trick from time to time. The dark skinned vampire was though and pretty smart, but he was also very arrogant, which had helped them beat him.

One of the good things to come out of the three months of constant fighting had been the development of the partnership not just between Faith and Xander, but also between the group as a whole. Jessica had also noted the way Faith and Xander had been spending a lot of their spare time together. So far nothing had happened between the two, but Jessica could see the desire that they hid from each other. She doubted either of them suspected the other actually returned the affection they had for each other. She found it quite amusing to see Faith involved in something every teenager went through. When she had first found Faith, she had doubted Faith would ever find it within herself to put her past behind her and find someone to trust with her heart.

"You should be more careful, Xan," Amy finally spoke, her concern very evident in her voice.

"I know Amy. I just acted on instinct," he answered, his gaze unfocused.

"It's been happening more and more. You seem to act more on instinct without even thinking of the consequences. You seem to be losing your grasp on your soldier memories," Amy responded.

"Not completely, it's still there," Xander answered. "Just sometimes drowned out by the hyena," he continued, shivering a little at the thought of it regaining control over him and what he might do to Amy, Faith and Jessica if it did.

"Xander, I've told you before, the hyena is not inside you anymore," Jessica told him. "It's just an echo," she added. "Now you may be accruing more of its traits than before, but you will always be in charge," she finished.

"I hope you are right, Jess," Xander replied, using his nickname for Jessica.

Faith remained quiet. She had been that way since they had returned. Xander's near death had shaken her quite a bit and she was trying to reign in her raging emotions. She watched as Amy continued to treat Xander's wound. She watched the dark-blonde witch carefully. For the last month or so she had noticed a change in her friend toward Xander. It had been clear to her for the last two months that Amy had deeper feelings towards him, although she tried to hide it, and now she was trying to get Xander to fall for her.

She wasn't sure what to do yet. If Amy managed to succeed in catching Xander's eye, then she might lose out on her one and only chance at love, but if she made a move now, she might hurt Amy and there was always the chance Xander might not be interested and if he wasn't, it may affect their friendship. She knew she would have to make a choice soon, but for now she decided to stay quiet.

+++

A tall dark figure walked into an abandoned factory, his face a mask of anger and hate. Before him, stood a dark-skinned man and four others. They were his best servants. Trick had been with him for almost three hundred years, the others only a hundred, but they were still tough and smart. However, at the moment, he hated each and every one, especially Trick, for they had failed once more to kill the slayer and her allies. His eyes passed over each one, all but Trick looked away.

"Why does that girl and her friends continued to live?" he demanded, his voice showing his impatience and his anger. "I have ordered them all dead and yet they all still live," he added.

"They are more skilled than any slayer before them, Master. I think even more so than the slayer in Sunnydale," one of them told him.

"Ah yes, the great Buffy Summers I've heard so much about," Kakistos growled. "Both of these slayers had killed some of the best of us; what makes them so powerful?" he mused sarcastically.

"Their allies master. They are the only slayers in history to have allies," another answered.

"And powerful allies at that," the third added, trying to sound confident. 

"You fear them too much. You are supposed to be my greatest warriors and you fear these weakly humans," Kakistos roared. Moving faster than a normal vampire, he beheaded one of them. "Now, if you fail me again, I will kill you all. Now go and gather as many vampires as you can and get back here as fast as you can," he ordered.

The remaining three vampires quickly exited the room, except for Trick, who remained where he was, a cold look in his eyes. 

"They are right, you know. Their allies are the problem, especially the witch," he said carefully, fearful of his master's anger. "The boy, too, is dangerous, although I can't tell why," he added.

"I know, which is why you will capture them all, except for the slayer. Once we have them, she will come to us and then we will kill them all," Kakistos told him.

"How Master?" Trick asked.

"I will send three demons with you and a powerful warlock I have worked with before. He will cast a powerful sleeping spell on them and nullify the barrier that keeps vampires out of people's homes without an invitation," he told his servant. "Once that is done, take them and leave a note for the slayer, telling her where they will be held. Do not touch her, Trick. She is mine to deal with, understood?" he ordered.

"Yes, Master. Who is the warlock?" Trick inquired.

Kakistos turned to the darkness and waved his hand. A shadow moved and then it came into the light. Trick could tell he was human.

"Trick, this is Ethan Rayne," Kakistos introduced him.  
9\. Chapter 9

Note: A big thank you to Hawklan and Inachis for betaing this story.

Dark Choices Chapter 9

Jessica watched as Faith prepared for her first patrol on her own since Xander had bumped into her. She had asked Xander to remain behind so she could do some training with him to keep his growing reliance on his hyena traits back under control. She was worried by how far the leftover echo of the hyena had grown inside Xander. Faith and Amy had both noticed it too and both were worried more than they let on.

Amy was staying behind as well, due to a small case of the flu she had picked up. Faith had managed to convince them all she would be fine on her own and if she came up against too many vampires, she would run instead of fighting. That was something new Jessica noted, Faith had never been one from running from a fight, but since meeting Xander and Amy she had begun to realize that sometimes running away was the right thing to do, if only to come back in greater force and destroy your enemy. Xander had definitely had an impact of Faith's way of thinking with his military memories about tactics and planning rubbing off on the young slayer.

"Remember Faith, keep an eye out, we won't be there to watch your back tonight," Xander told the dark-haired slayer.

"I know X, don't worry. I'll be back in no time," Faith assured him before she picked up her last stake and walked out into the night.

Xander sighed as she left. He didn't like this plan one bit. Something about tonight had left him with a deep foreboding, but he had agreed with Jessica's suggestion that they try to reign in the echo the hyena had left in him after it had been removed. Faith and Amy's unease with his growing reliance on the hyena had convinced him to let Jessica try to help him reel in the left over traits the spirit had left in him.

+++

Trick watched with a self-satisfied smile as the slayer left for her patrol alone. This was going to work out better than he thought it might. Usually the slayer never patrolled alone since the team of the warrior and the witch turned up, but for some reason tonight she was going out alone and that suited his master's plans quite nicely. He turned and nodded at Ethan to begin his part of the plan as the vampires and demons prepared to attack.

Amy watched as Jessica put Xander into a deep trance. She watched as her friend's body went limp and his breathing became light. Jessica herself seemed to be deep in concentration as she took Xander even deeper. Suddenly she jerked as she felt a wash of magic begin to sweep through the house. She pushed herself up and walked over to the window. She didn't see anything, but she still felt the magic being spun, it was powerful and dark. She backed off from the window, suddenly fearful. She turned to tell Jessica when suddenly Xander jumped to his feet, smelling the air as if searching for something.

"Jessica?" she asked, confused.

"Something's caught his attention," Jessica said, standing as well. "And, at the moment, the hyena trait left in him is in control," she added.

"What do you mean, it's in control? I thought you said it was just an echo?" Amy demanded, forgetting for an instant the buildup of magic. 

"It is an echo, but it's also more powerful that I thought it was and to push it back into Xander's subconscious I had to pull it forward into his conscious mind," Jessica explained. "It was stuck between the two, that's why Xander has been using the hyena traits more, but he broke through the trance before I could push it back," she finished, looking slightly nervous.

"Is he dangerous? Is he going to attack us like he did to Buffy and Willow the last time he was taken over?" Amy asked before she jerked again as did Xander as another wave of magic washed through the flat.

"What's wrong?" Jessica asked, as she noticed Amy jerk as if something had struck her.

"Someone is casting a large amount of magic and dark magic at that," Amy answered. "It's washing through the house, it's most likely what Xander's sensed," she added.

"Possibly, this way he would be able to sense the flow of any magic being cast," Jessica said, walking over to the window and looking out onto the street and quickly backing away as she saw Trick approaching, along with a group of vampires and demons.

"Shit," she cursed. "Amy, quick, the swords in the back room, get them," she ordered.

Amy didn't hesitate and quickly ran into the back room to grab the swords. As she heard the front door smash open, she also heard Xander's growl as a fight broke out. She rushed back into the room and threw Jessica one of the swords as she side-stepped one of the demons. Xander, she noted, had vanished, although she noted four piles of dust and a demon lying dead at the door.

She quickly switched her concentration to the fight as Trick approached her, followed by two vampires.

"You can't beat me, witch," Trick sneered.

"Watch me," Amy shot back, trying to sound confident.

She swung low in an attempt to take out the vampire's legs; unfortunately, Trick was faster and jumped over her swing and tried to grab her sword arm. Amy managed to pull back and away from him as the two other vampires closed in on her.

Jessica had already managed to take out two of the vampires that had come at her with a little help from Xander before he ran out the door, tearing through four vampires and a demon with an animalistic hatred. She didn't know where he was going, but hoped he'd recover soon enough to get Faith.

She ducked another swing from one of the two remaining demons, as the other stood guard at the door. Obviously Trick didn't want them to get away. She swung high as the demon went to attack again and managed to bury her sword in his side before she was thrown backward by one of the vampires who had been with Trick. She cried out as she struck the wall. She barely caught a glimpse of Amy being flung forward into a nasty right swing from the other vampire, with Trick knocking the young witch out cold. She shuddered, as she tried to move. Her shoulder was killing her and she feared she had maybe dislocated or broken her it when she had been thrown into the wall. The last thing she saw was Trick's cold smile and a face she recognized as one of Giles's old friends before she was knocked out cold by the demon she had injured.

Xander ran quickly through the local graveyard, barely in control of himself. The hyena echo was now loose and it was stronger than ever. No matter what Jessica had told him, it was clear it was more than an echo, it had to be. The hyena had not liked the scent of the vampires or the demons and had quickly taken out five of their number plus the ones he had managed to get the hyena to attack to help Jessica. The only hope he had now was finding Faith and alerting her to what had happened and the fact that the hyena was now lose.

+++

Trick flinched as his master beheaded yet another of his favorite servants. He had not been happy to learn the warrior had escaped after dispatching not only four of the vampires, but one of his demons as well. Such a feat from a normal human was not possible and it had enraged his master to no end to hear what had happened.

"We were taken by surprise, master," another of the vampires said. "It was like he was a wild animal, a beast," he added in fear.

"Silence," Kakistos roared. "Get out of my sight; all of you except for Trick," he commanded.

The room quickly emptied, leaving the two vampires alone, except for the unconscious forms of Amy and Jessica tied to the nearby wall.

"What happened?" Kakistos demanded.

"The Warlock's sleeping spell did not work. They were still awake when we attacked," Trick told his master. "The warrior was wild like a beast. He struck before any of us could move. He ran away before we could try to subdue him, but he did enough damage before he left. The witch was easy to subdue, as she didn't have the time to cast any spells. The watcher was a little harder; but we got her as well," Trick finished. 

"Fine, start setting up the ambush, the slayer and her friend will arrive soon to rescue their friends. Make sure Ethan stays as well, I want a word with him."

"Yes, master," Trick nodded and quickly left the room.

+++

Faith smiled as she dispatched her fifth vampire of the night. Slow for some of the fights she had been involved in, especially since the others had begun fighting Kakistos, but so far nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Her hearing quickly picked up the sounds of something or someone rushing toward her position. She dropped into a fighting stance and prepared for another fight. She was shocked to see Xander bursting out of the night looking somewhat wild. His eyes seemed darker than ever and for a second she was held by his look before he broke off and looked around for a second before turning back to her.

"Jessica and Amy have been taken by Trick," he growled, looking more menacing than ever.

"What?" Faith asked, stunned.

"We were attacked. Some type of magic allowed them into the house, just after Jessica put me into a trance. The hyena came alive and took control. It killed four of the vampires and a demon and I barely managed to force the echo of the hyena to help Jessica before it bolted into the night," he told her.

"Xander, who is in control of your body at the moment?" Faith asked cautiously.

"We both are. I'm keeping it in line by telling it I'll let it stay out and free so it can hunt," he answered. "Also, it wants to help us kill more vampires. It seems the hyena doesn't like the smell of them or demons," he added.

"If they've been taken alive, it has to be a trap. They want all of us," Faith surmised.  
"We have to go, Faith; Amy and Jessica need our help," Xander argued. "Plus, they don't know about the extra help we'll have in the form of the hyena," he added.

"How can you trust it?" Faith demanded. "And how can I trust you with that thing lose in your head?" she added.

"At the moment, it's staying silent and not trying to take control because we've got a sort of an arrangement, so it seems it can be reasonable, if it needs to be," Xander explained. "As for me, I’m Xander and you can trust me," he added, looking into Faith's eyes.

Faith stared back, seeing nothing but the eyes of the man she had come to not only trust with her life, but also her heart. Although she hadn't admitted that fact yet. She would need help if she intended to save Jessica and Amy, she would need help and Xander and the hyena inside him was her only choice.

"OK, let's head back to the house and get ready. This is going be a long night," Faith said, before she turned and walked off. Xander quickly turned and followed with a smile on his face.  
10\. Chapter 10

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Dark Choices Chapter 10

Faith walked towards the abandoned factory, with Xander a step in front of her. He or at least the hyena inside him, was guiding them to where Kakistos, Trick and his lackeys were keeping Jessica and Amy.

She was wary of Xander for the first time since she met him. She knew she could not totally trust him with the hyena in control or even just loose inside his head. She knew how dangerous it was from what Xander had told her and also from what Jessica had learned from Giles.

Xander struggled to keep the hyena under control. It was taking every bit of his concentration and strength. He feared what it would do if it took control from him. The hyena did want to kill vampires, which was a good thing, but it also wanted control and that was something Xander was not willing to relinquish unless he had no other option in their bid to rescue their friends.

He wanted to warn Faith, to tell her that for the moment he couldn't be trusted, but he couldn't, because to do that he would have to shift his concentration and the moment he did that, he would lose control. He did notice Faith seemed somewhat careful around him and that meant she was aware of what he could do if the hyena took complete control. He stopped as the hyena picked up a stronger sent from Jessica and Amy. They were scared. The hyena also smelled blood, they were hurt. Xander growled

"What is it Xan?" Faith asked as her Slayer hearing picked up the growl from her friend.

"They're hurt, he's torturing them," Xander growled back. "That bastard is gonna scream before we dust him," he added before taking off at a fast pace. Faith quickly followed, having to use her Slayer enhanced speed to keep up with Xander.

+++

Kakistos smiled as the Slayer's Watcher screamed in agony again. He always enjoyed watching his childe work his magic when it came to torturing their victims. In all his years only one other of his childes exceeded Trick and himself when it came to torture and that was Victoria.

He smiled when he thought of her. She had been the best Slayer of her time and had put up a great fight, which had impressed him and that was why he decided to turn her, instead of just killing her and sending her remains to the Council to taunt them. Since he turned her, she had shown a sadistic side which rivaled that of Trick and many a master vampire he had known through his unlife. She would make a great master in her own right one day. Unfortunately though Victoria was not in Boston at the moment, she was in Miami trying to gain some items he wanted from an old enemy.

He would have loved to see her and the dark haired Slayer known as Faith square off. He agreed with Trick in his assessment that Faith was a far more dangerous Slayer than the renowned Slayer from the Hellmouth, Buffy Summers.

Maybe, he decided, if she impressed him enough, he might add Faith to his family, maybe he should add her whole group. Each was powerful in their own right and he did need to gain some new followers. He must have lost twenty to thirty of his best warriors to the dark haired Slayer and her team. Then he decided he might go visit the Hellmouth and see what the blond haired Slayer and her team were like.

"Master?" one of his followers shouted as he ran into the factory.

"What is it?" he demanded.

"The Slayer and the warrior are approaching the factory," the vampire replied quickly. "The Warrior still looks slightly crazed, Master."

"Good, make sure they enter this chamber without any problems, then lock all the doors and make sure they don't leave alive. Is that understood, Vincent?" Kakistos ordered.

"Perfectly, Master." Vincent bowed, fearing for his own unlife if the Slayer and her friends managed to survive the trap set for them and escape.

"Good, now go," Kakistos hissed before turning to face where Trick now waited for him in the office of the abandoned factory next to where the Watcher and the witch were being kept. He walked towards the room, his eyes telling Trick he would suffer if their plan failed.

Faith hesitated outside the door to the factory. Xander was making a quick sweep around the building, using his hyena senses to the max to see if there were any vampires patrolling, before they went in after their friends. They didn't want to have to fight both a rearguard action as well as a normal fight.

Finally Xander returned, looking even more consumed by the madness of the hyena than he did when they arrived. She could almost see the beast looking out through the brown eyes she had fallen in love with. She shivered as he walked towards her with long strides; he gave her an affirmative nod, telling her that all was clear.

"That doesn't sound right X, there are always lackeys who are patrolling their hideouts," Faith pointed out.

"I know," he replied, as he grabbed the handle of the door. "We know it's a trap and that's an advantage," he added. "Just keep an eye out at all times, especially for Trick and Kakistos," he finished as he swung the door open and stepped through, pulling the sword from his back.

Faith waited a few seconds before following Xander through the door, pulling her own sword. She kept a close eye on their backs as they walked towards the centre of the factory.

Vincent smiled as he watched the dark haired Slayer and the warrior walk into the factory. He prayed all of his fellow vampires knew what to do. He didn't want to even think about what his Master would do to him, if everything failed. Then again, he didn't look forward to facing either the Slayer or the warrior in combat either, especially after what he saw the warrior do to the vamps and demons that attacked their house.

Finally he watched as they entered the main chamber of the factory where the trap was to be sprung and he quickly gave the signal for all the doors to be locked. It was time.

Faith spun around as she heard the doors shut loudly behind them. It would seem the trap had been sprung and now they were going to have the fight of their lives, if they intended to save their friends.

Xander quickly backed up so they were back to back as twenty vampires appeared around them in a circle. She had never fought so many at once, not even with Xander on their patrols. She knew the chances of them getting out alive were slim. She looked behind her only to find Xander looking back at her. Their eyes had the same fear and yet the same determination in them. They couldn't look away and finally something seemed to snap within them and suddenly they were kissing passionately, ignoring the vampires that surrounded them. They separated, both breathing hard. Their eyes held each other, showing the deep passion they held for each other, no longer hidden.

"If we get out of this Xander, we're gonna have a long talk," Faith promised.

"Count on it Faith," Xander replied, turning to face the vampires again and then before he could talk himself out of it, he cupped her face and made her look at him again. "I love you, Faith," he whispered, kissing her lightly before letting go and moving to engage the first of the vampires, leaving Faith momentarily stunned.

She quickly shook her head and smiling slightly moved to engage the vampires facing her. She made a promise to herself that they would make it out of this, all of them, and then she was going to claim Xander's heart no matter what.  
11\. Chapter 11

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Dark Choices Chapter 11

Faith pushed the 4x4 hard, as she headed for the one place she knew Xander and Amy most likely never wanted to see again. Jessica had told her to head there, before she passed out because of her wounds, as had Amy and Xander himself.

Her mind went back to the battle they had just fought. She and Xander had gone to rescue Amy and Jessica, after they had been captured by Trick. Xander had been repossessed by the hyena spirit just before the battle and so he had a little extra push as they went in.

+++

Four hours ago, at the warehouse:

Xander jumped with almost inhuman speed at the nearest vampire. Boosted as he was by the hyena spirit, he was still worried it might take complete control over him, but he had no choice, but to use it for this fight. Once they freed Jessica, she could perform the spell to seal the spirit back inside him.

He collided with the vampires, managing to dust the closest with the stake he had grabbed from his pocket. He leaped backwards, before either of the other vampires could put him down, where he would have the disadvantage.

Faith had already taken out five vampires using her speed and agility, but there were still fourteen left plus Trick and Kakistos who were here somewhere and they had Amy and Jessica as well. They had to deal with the lackeys as fast as possible.

A cry of pain and rage distracted her for a minute as she turned to where Xander was holding his left arm, which was now bloody. She noticed one of the vamps he faced was carrying a knife. Suddenly she was rushed by four vamps who tried to force her to the ground. Using all of her strength she managed to power herself out and knock two of the four vamps down.

Xander growled as he felt his anger build, even as he nailed the vamp who had cut him with the knife. It managed to roll away and get back to its feet and then jumped at him again. He tried to jump backwards, but didn't make it in time and this time the knife cut him down his side, causing more pain to shoot through him. This time the hyena came out fully and he charged the vampire, surprising it with his sudden speed. It dropped the knife as they rolled around. Xander grabbed the knife and plunged it into the vampire's heart. It yelled out in agony as Xander found his stake and staked it just as Trick jumped on him, sending him flying through a couple of boxes. He cried out as a splinter embedded itself into his leg.

Faith spun around once she dusted one of the few remaining vamp lackeys, just to see Xander being thrown across the room into the boxes behind him. She flinched when she heard his pain filled cry as he came to a stop.

Trick stalked him, as her almost lover tried to push himself up to his feet again. She went to help, when Kakistos stepped forward from one of the dark corners of the room, smiling evilly. In his grasp he held a very bloody and much weakened Jessica.

Her watcher looked like she had been through hell and from what she had learned of this master vampire that might be truer than she wanted to know.

"A choice, Slayer," the vampire growled.

"What?" Faith asked, trying to look for an opening.

"I give you a choice." he replied. "Your Watcher and witch," he added, "or your special friend," he finished, nodding his head to where Xander was trying to get past Trick, to get to where a sword laid on the ground. "You can only save one, if at all," he smiled again.

Faith wished she knew how to do magic. That could help her out of this situation. A cry of utter agony erupted from behind her and she turned to see Trick was now on the floor, unconscious, but so was Xander. Both had a large chunk of wood in their hands which was broken in half and both seemed to be bleeding heavily.

Her anger began to build, as she saw how badly Xander and Jessica were hurt. She dreaded to find out in what condition Amy was. She suddenly remembered the knife she had in her back pocket. She slowly drew it, trying not to give her intent away.

Kakistos growled angrily as he saw his second fall without killing the boy. He strengthened the hold he had on the Watcher, as he prepared to kill her when the Slayer suddenly leaped forward and drove a knife into his left eye. He dropped the Watcher, as he howled in agony. He quickly knocked the Slayer backwards before he turned and fled, after grabbing a hold of Trick. He would finish them off soon enough and the Slayer would pay dearly for this insult.

+++

Four hours later in the car

Faith sighed as she sighted the welcome to Sunnydale sign. After the fight she had quickly patched up the worst of Xander's and Jessica's wounds, before finding Amy and doing the same with her. She then got them to the nearest car she could find, which, considering the state the other three were in, had luckily been a 4x4. She was heading for the house of Watcher Rupert Giles, he was an ally they could trust, even Xander and Amy cared for him.

She just hoped the others, the betrayers of her friends, wouldn't be there as well.  
12\. Chapter 12

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Chapter 12

Faith pulled the car up, outside the house of the Watcher Rupert Giles. Jessica's friend and the only member of the so called Scooby gang Xander and Amy still trusted and cared for. She felt completely wiped and a part of her only wanted to fall asleep and rest, but she knew she couldn't. The others were still in bad shape and needed help. She opened the door, rushed over and began to bang on the Watcher's door, hoping he was actually in and not on patrol with the other Slayer.

Giles awoke with a start, as he heard the banging on his door. He looked around for a few seconds to get his bearings before getting up and heading for his front door. He picked up a cross and a stake, which he kept near the door as he went.

He slowly and cautiously flipped the catch and opened the door to find a medium sized girl, with long black hair and striking brown eyes. She seemed worried and tired, but also alert and ready for an attack.

"Can I help you Miss?" he asked, keeping an eye out for any vampires who might be with this girl.

"Mr. Giles? My name is Faith," the girl replied, still looking around her for some form of threat.

"Faith?" Giles asked surprised, before thrusting the cross outwards into the girls face. She just looked at him, annoyed.

"You done?" she asked with growing annoyance at the Watcher.

"Yes, sorry about that," Giles replied. "You can't be Faith, she is in Boston along with her friends," he added, looking doubtful.

"We got hit badly by Kakistos and his second, Trick," the girl replied. "They captured Amy and Jessica while I was on patrol."

"But?" Giles went to interrupt, but the girl cut him off.

"Listen G, the others are all in bad shape in the 4x4. I need your help to get them inside and get them stabilized," Faith shot back.

"If they're in that bad a shape we should get them to the hospital," Giles said, before walking away to get dressed.

Faith went back to the 4x4 and checked the back seat to see that Jessica and Amy were still unconscious. She sighed, hoping her friends would be alright. Xander was still sprawled out in the boot. She had ripped the top half of the boot off so he could breathe with no difficulty.

"Faith, are you ready to go?" Giles asked as he got into the driver's seat.

"Yeah, G, coming," Faith replied, sighing again.

Buffy looked around, as she sensed something was wrong. Her patrol had so far been uneventful. Oz and Willow were by her side, talking about what they were going to do on their date tomorrow.

Things with her friends were a little rough after Oz had seen her talking to Angel during one of her patrols, which led to the fact that she had known that Angel had returned from hell to Sunnydale and kept it secret, coming out. They had been annoyed that she hadn't told them the truth about his return, especially considering that she hadn't really known if he was Angel or Angelus.

She had chosen to follow her heart, which had told her that it was her love and not the beast that had tormented her and the others. At least after she had explained everything to the others things had returned to almost normal. The only one who was still annoyed with her was Giles, but she didn't give that much thought about it. Giles had been annoyed with her since she had tried to deal with the traitor Xander in her own way. She had a feeling that the Watcher knew where he was hiding, but he refused to say anything to her about it.

"Buffy, what's wrong?" Willow asked.

"I don't know, but I'm picking up something around here. It's not exactly like when I pick up vampires or demons, but something doesn't feel right," Buffy tried to explain.

Neither of the three saw a black 4x4 swing past the cemetery they were in, on its way to the Sunnydale memorial.

Faith looked at the cemetery as they passed it. She sensed something was there. It was powerful, but not at all like any vampire or demon she had encountered before.

"Buffy and the others should be patrolling there right now. I do hope they don't notice me. I really do not won't to deal with them right now, considering that neither Xander nor Amy are in any shape to defend themselves," Giles explained.

"She even tries and hurts any of my friends, G, and Blondie and her friends can kiss their asses' goodbye," Faith promised.

Giles looked over at the dark haired Slayer and saw how serious she was about the situation. Her friends obviously meant a great deal to her and she was willing to defend them with her life. Strangely enough, that was exactly what Xander was like; he would gladly give up his life for his friends.

"So, what has happened Faith?" Giles asked. "How did Jessica and Amy end up being captured?"

"They were performing a spell to force the hyena spirit back inside Xander's head. It's been coming out more and more lately," Faith began.

"Yes, Jessica did inform me of her intentions and her fears that it might not work," Giles nodded in reply.

"She warned us as well, but it was the only option or we might have lost Xander for good," Faith spoke, her voice cracking with repressed fear. "I might have been forced to slay him if the hyena had gotten full control of his body," she added.

"That is what Xander would have wanted you to do Faith. He'd rather die than cause any pain to his friends," Giles tried to sound reassuring.

"True," Faith agreed. "Anyway, I was on patrol while they did the spell. Then Trick and his goons attacked. Somehow they got past the barrier that keeps vampires out of people's homes," Faith told him.

"To do that they must have used magic," Giles mused. "So either one of them can use it, which is a troubling thought, or they brought in outside help," he continued.

"Wait," Faith said, as something the Watcher had said triggered a memory. She had been patching up Jessica when she had spoken. Just before she had passed out, her voice had been low, barely above a whisper. "She said something, a name. I think it was Rayne," she paused as she tried to concentrate harder on the memory. "Yeah, she said dark magic and the name Rayne, Ethan Rayne," she finished, looking to the Watcher, and was shocked as his face went as hard as stone and his eyes flashed with anger.

"That bloody idiot," Giles spat as he heard the dark haired Slayer tell her what Jessica had said. Of course she would have remembered him; he had tried it on with her a few times during their early years. "I am going to kill him for this," he hissed.

"You know this guy?" Faith asked with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, I do Faith, and so do Xander and Jessica, although not as well as I," he replied, noticing the accusing glare in the Slayer's eyes. "He was the one responsible for Xander's possession during the Halloween incident a couple of years ago, which resulted in him having his solider memories," he continued.

"Xan told me about that, but he never mentioned anything about who was responsible," Faith told him, her glare lifting slightly.

"No, he most likely forgot about Ethan. However, my ties to him go back to my youth when I was more of a rebel looking for trouble," the Watcher replied, as he turned the car into the hospital parking lot.

"What kind of trouble?" the Slayer asked.

"We were into dark magic, and although I sorted myself out and started fresh, Ethan delved deeper and deeper into the black arts," he answered, as he finally stopped the car and got out. "Wait here. I'll alert someone, we need some stretchers," he told her.

Faith looked into the back and again sighed, but she swore if this Ethan was responsible for how the vampires had broken into the house, he would pay dearly for his actions that had resulted in the three people she cared for most getting seriously hurt.

+++

Three days later

Giles smiled, as he was told by the doctor that Jessica and Amy were awake. Xander however remained unconscious, although his wounds had healed to a point where he should be awake. He wondered if this had anything to do with the spell Jessica had been attempting or if the hyena spirit itself was causing the problem.

"May I see them, doctor?" he asked.

"Of course," the doctor nodded and then walked off.

Giles headed first to the nearest pay phone and called his house to alert Faith to her friends' status. The dark haired Slayer's attitude had been dark and angry with short periods of humor about some of the group's trials in Boston.

The only real problem was keeping the presence of Faith and the others in Sunnydale from Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies. If the blond Slayer found out Xander was here before he had recovered, she might try and finish what she had started before Xander had left. Also, keeping Faith from patrolling to work of some of her anger was also difficult, but so far she had listened to his reasoning as to why she couldn't.

After placing the call he headed to where Jessica's room was. He was pleased to see she was awake and sitting up.

"Jessica?" he said in greeting.

"Rupert," she replied with a wide smile at seeing her friend.

"How are you?" he asked, as he sat next to her bed.

"Better, how is Faith? And where are Xander and Amy?" she questioned him.

"Faith is exhausted, but she suffered no real damage during the fight. She is also angry and worried about you and the others," Giles told her. "Amy is awake and almost fully recovered, she is also worried about the others," he continued. "However, although Xander's wounds have healed, he is still unconscious and that has me concerned," he finished.

"He most likely is keeping himself unconscious. He doesn't want to let himself wake up if the hyena is still trying to take control," Jessica explained.

"I see. I hope you're right, Jess," Giles nodded.

"I think I am Rupert. Xander has very good control over himself, thanks to his meditation sessions," Jessica replied. "Once I'm discharged I'll complete the spell to force the spirit back into his head, where it can be contained, and then he should wake up an hour or so later," she added. "You better go and see Amy and put her mind at ease. I want to see Faith," she continued.

"Faith will be here in half an hour. She was asleep when I called to let her know you were awake. I will be in to see you again later, but for now, rest," Giles told her as he stood up and went to see his other friend, Amy.

"Mr. Giles," she greeted him as he entered her room.

"Hello Amy, it's good to see you again," he replied in turn. "I'm relieved to see you awake," he added.

"The others?" she asked.

"They are all fine, although Xander is still unconscious, but Jessica seems convinced that is due to himself until she can complete the spell to deal with the hyena," he told her.

"I think she's right," Amy said with a smile as the Watcher sat down and they began to catch up.

+++

Buffy continued to sense the presence she had picked up three days ago. She didn't know what it was, but it was beginning to worry her. Giles did not seem to think it was anything too serious, but the Watcher had seemed very distracted to her and had been so for the last couple of days. She was wondering what had gotten him worked up.

She decided to keep a close eye on Giles for the next day or so, just in case he was hiding something. She also decided to ask Angel to ask around the demon hot spots about anything that might have come to town recently that might be setting of her warning senses.  
13\. Chapter 13

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Chapter 13

Xander slowly opened his eyes, as he finally felt that the hyena in the back of his mind slowly vanished. He sighed internally that he could finally allow himself to wake up. He hoped he would find his friends alive and in good condition.

First he noticed the familiar white ceiling that seemed to be common to all hospitals. He looked to his left to find Jessica, Faith, Amy and surprisingly Giles standing near his bed. They all had relieved smiles on their faces.

"Xander?" Giles asked, as he stepped forward.

"Hey G-man," Xander smirked, as he tried to sit up. "What's going on? When did you get to Boston?" he asked in rapid succession.

"I'm afraid you're not going to like the answers to those questions, Xander," Giles sighed, wishing Xander had held off asking those specific questions.

Xander noticed the strained looks Amy and Faith gave each other, even Jessica was looking slightly nervous. "Just get it over with Giles, please," he said, deciding it was better to get over with the bad part.

"Very well," Giles nodded. "First, you have recovered fully from the fight you and Faith engaged in during your rescue of Jess and Amy, second, you have been unconscious for the better part of a week and a half. Apparently you kept yourself unconscious because the hyena spirit had gotten free. Jessica tried the spell she was attempting before she was captured once she was discharged, but I am afraid to say it didn't work," Giles explained.

At this Xander interrupted, his eyes wide with fear. "The hyena is still lose?" he asked.

"No, it is not," Jessica reassured him. "I found a new spell which merged the spirit with the other two spirits inside you. This means the hyena itself no longer exists as a separate entity so it can no longer take control. However, you will display certain traits at times and you will have stronger senses and agility and maybe speed," she told him.

Xander took this information in. It sounded like the spell had done something along the lines of the spell which had given him access to his soldier memories and skills.

"Also, we're not in Boston anymore," Amy told him, speaking for the first time.

"Where are we?" Xander asked, although he had a sinking feeling he knew exactly where they were.

"Sunnydale," Amy answered with dark eyes.

"I brought us here after the fight. We needed help and we would have been too vulnerable at a Boston hospital. I came straight to G's house, like Jessica had told me to, if I ever needed to come here," Faith told him hesitantly.

Xander closed his eyes as he accepted the news he was in the one place he had never wanted to be again. However, Faith was right. Had they stayed in Boston, Kakistos and Trick could have picked them off with ease. He knew in his heart she had done what was best for the four of them.

"You did the right thing Faith," he told her and he noticed how much what he had said meant to the Slayer. "Do they know Giles?" he asked, as his mind quickly switched to the biggest threat they faced, which surprisingly was not any vampire or demon, but the second Slayer and her team.

"No. However, Buffy has become very suspicious of my actions of late and has tried to follow me multiple times. I've had to rely on my magical knowledge to keep her from finding out where I've been going," Giles explained.

"Then we get it out of the way tonight. Kakistos and Trick will track us here and soon, so we'll need everyone to kill these two vamps," Xander said, as he threw the blankets off him and stood up, feeling much better.

"Are you sure you're ready for such a confrontation?" Giles asked, concerned.

"Not really, but the longer we put it off, the more danger we are in of Kakistos finding us split and vulnerable," Xander answered.

The others nodded, understanding what Xander was saying. Giles knew this matter could come to blows though, if Buffy wasn't in a mood to listen.

+++

Kakistos looked up as Trick and Victoria walked towards him, both wearing smiles, which hopefully meant that they had located the Slayer and her group.

"Speak," he commanded, as they stopped and knelt in front of him.

"We have located them my lord, they are on the Hellmouth," Victoria answered.

"So they hope to ally with the blond Slayer and her group," Kakistos mused. "Even better, we can wipe out both teams of hunters at once. Trick, you will head straight for Sunnydale and begin recruiting vampires and demons alike. Victoria and I will finish up here and then follow with the rest of my followers in a few days," he ordered, putting a plan together quickly.

"Yes Master," Trick nodded as he stood to leave.

"Make sure they don't find out you are there until I have arrived, do I make myself understood?" Kakistos ordered with a threatening smile.

"Of course, my lord," Trick nodded before leaving.

+++

Buffy looked around the library as Cordelia and Oz walked in, followed closely by Willow. Giles had called a meeting to inform them of a new threat. Wesley, her new Watcher, was off in the corner looking annoyed that once again no one was treating him as the active Watcher. Giles finally came into the library followed by a tall woman with short black hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Who's she, Giles?" Willow asked.

"This is Jessica Sanders, a fellow Watcher," Giles answered.

"That is impossible, Miss Sanders is in Boston," Wesley butted in.

"Wesley, shut up and stay out of this. Miss Sanders was stationed in Boston with her Slayer, Kendra's replacement, who was called after Kendra's death. Her name is Faith," Giles said, trying to keep his anger and nerves under control.

"So where is she? Or is she dead?" Buffy asked with no seeming of actually caring one way or the other.

"No, she is not dead Miss Summers. Faith will be here in a few minutes, as will her friends," Jessica shot back, seeing exactly what Xander had meant when he said Buffy didn't much care for anything or anyone she didn't consider her friend.

"Friends?" Wesley questioned. "The council reports made no mention of your Slayer having any friends," he continued.

"That's because I never mentioned it in my reports, because I knew they would try and interfere in her friendships, just like they had with Miss Summer's group," Jessica replied.

"Now see here, Miss Sanders," Wesley began, looking shocked at Jessica's reply.

"No, you see here, you prat, I will not allow the Council to endanger my daughter's safety because of their own narrow view of things. I will also not allow them to interfere in her life apart from her duty as the Slayer," she spat, her anger exploding at Wesley's tone.

"Daughter? She is not your daughter, Miss Sanders," Wesley continued, ignoring the looks from everyone else in the library.

"Yes, she is, in every way that counts bar blood, she is my daughter," Jessica shot back. "And if you try and do anything that brings harm to her, I will gut you. Is that understood?" she added with fire dancing in her eyes.

Wesley just nodded his head mutely, when he finally realized the dangerous waters he was in with his fellow Watchers.

"Now that is sorted we can get down to the real purpose of this meeting. Jessica, if you will," Giles said, happy to see Wesley put in his place by his friend.

"Faith and myself were fighting a master vampire by the name of Kakistos and his second Trick. With the help of our friends we managed to do a lot of damage to the vampire's plans, but in the end he managed to capture us due to the help of a black arts mage names Ethan Rayne, who Rupert and I know from our younger days," Jessica began.

"Ethan helped them capture you, how?" Buffy asked, her eyes narrowing at the mention of the chaos mage's name.

"He used his magic to help the vampires bypass the barrier which stops vampire's from entering a house uninvited," Jessica answered.

"I didn't know there was a way to do that, not even with magic," Willow said, shocked.

"Ethan's knowledge of the black arts is quite extensive and he knows many spells along those lines," Giles explained, understanding the red haired girls shock.

"How did you escape, if you were captured?" Buffy asked.

"I was captured along with one of our friends. We were tortured and almost killed. However, they hadn't captured Faith or our other friend, who then launched a successful rescue mission.

While both Kakistos and Trick were injured, they escaped and since everyone except Faith was injured and in no shape to hang around, Faith brought us here to Sunnydale where we could recover and ally with you group," Jessica answered.

"Why, these vampires are in Boston?" Buffy asked, looking confused.

"They will track us here, Miss Summers, and I'm sure they will not be alone. It makes sense that we pull our resources together to combat this threat as I am sure had we stayed in Boston, we would be dead and Kakistos would then head here to deal with your own group. You would most likely have done about as well as we did," Jessica answered, getting angry at the blonds hidden suggestion they should not have come here.

"There is also a possibility that Kakistos has another master vampire with him, a former Slayer he turned named Victoria. If this true, we truly are faced with a huge threat, which will require us to join forces with Faith and her group to survive," Giles stepped in, hoping to impress on Buffy and the others just how deadly Kakistos and his children were.

"So, where is Faith and her friends?" Buffy asked.

"Right here," said a voice that every one of the teens recognized.

They all turned to the library doors to see three teens. While the brunette was not someone they knew, but was obviously Faith, the other two were people they knew very well.

"Xander," Buffy growled out with hate.

"Amy?" Willow asked, somewhat shocked to see the dark blond witch who had disappeared, standing with her former childhood friend. Silence echoed through the library, following the identification of the newcomers.  
14\. Chapter 14

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Dark Choices Chapter 14

Xander smiled as he took in the library. It was exactly as he remembered it. For a minute he could almost forget that this was the place where Buffy, in her anger and hatred had almost killed him, whilst his friends for some reason or another had allowed her to do so.

He shook his head to clear the memories that welled up here, as a presence he almost felt like he knew brushed against him. He locked his eyes on where Buffy and the others were arguing with another man he did not know. Although it was clear from the clothes he wore, that he was a Watcher. He listened as Jessica claimed Faith as her daughter and noticed the pleased and loving gaze Faith had on her face, as she saw her Watcher defended her.

They listened as Jessica informed the Scooby gang of exactly what had happened in Boston and what they were facing once Kakistos and his children found them. He frowned as Buffy tried to imply this was no concern of theirs and then smiled as Buffy asked where Faith and her friends were.

"Right here," he answered, causing everyone to turn and look at them.

"Xander," he heard Buffy growl out, her eyes narrowed.

"Amy!" Willow's shocked voice joined in with Buffy's, as she identified his fellow exile from Sunnydale.

The silence continued for a few minutes, until Buffy began to move forward, intent on facing her betrayer.

"Buffy, stop right now," Giles commanded. "What happened before must not get in the way of what is going to be. We need to stand together," he told her, raising his voice.

"After what he did, you dare tell me that I have to work with him again?" Buffy yelled.

"And what did I do Buffy? Except making sure you did your job. The job you should have done at the mall after we took out the judge?" Xander shot back, his face narrowed with his own anger. "The job you failed to do, because you allowed your love for him to get in the way and because you did, Jenny died, Kendra died and many others died," he continued, as he again felt a presence he knew brush against him.

Buffy's eyes narrowed and her anger grew as her former friend recounted her greatest failures and the deaths that still haunted her dreams.

"How dare you?" she spat.

"I dare Buffy, because it's time we brought this to a close. What happened with Angelus was something that could have been avoided by us all," he told her.

"You made me kill him! Willow's spell worked, his soul was restored and you never told me, you told me she wanted revenge, to kick his ass, you said," Buffy hissed, moving closer. "I lost my soul mate because of you," she added.

"How can a vampire be a soul mate to a Vampire Slayer?" Xander asked. "How could you forget the trail of death he left in his wake before the Kalderash cursed him with his soul? And it was a curse, not a reward. He was supposed to suffer for his crimes and you allowed yourself to forget that, to treat him like a man," he spat, as everything he remembered reading about Angelus came back to him.

Buffy glared at him, wanting so much to hit him, to wipe that confident look of his face, but she knew if she did, Wesley would report her to the Council, especially if the truth of what she had done came out.

"Why?" Willow's voice broke the new silence, as she stepped forward. "Why didn't you trust me to do the spell? I asked you to tell Buffy what I was doing, so she had the option of holding back," she continued.

"Precisely, if she had held back, she would have been killed or worse, turned. He wasn't playing a game to make Buffy mad or make her feel pain anymore," Xander shot back quickly. "He was playing the end game. As for not trusting you to do the soul curse, it should be obvious why I didn't. You'd just woken up from a coma and had never preformed even a simple spell in your life," he answered, facing his former childhood friend.

Willow nodded her head, finally understanding the answer to the question that had been on her mind since it had happened. Why, for the first time in their lives, Xander had not trusted her.

"That's your reason for lying to me?" Buffy demanded. "That you were making sure I didn't get killed?" her eyes blazed.

"Yes, but then I doubt you'd believe that, because I know exactly why you think I did it," he answered.

Buffy couldn't hold back this time. She lashed out, intent on knocking Xander out cold, except that the brunette she now knew to be Faith intercepted her, catching her fist and nailing her with a back swing, sending Buffy to the floor.

"Faith," Xander said, catching the girl he loved and holding her back from attacking again, while letting her know that he wasn't angry and that she had done nothing wrong. Faith looked at him for a few seconds, before understanding. She smiled and backed off.

Buffy slowly stood up. A little shocked at the speed of the brunette Slayer. She hadn't even noticed her moving close to where she and Xander had been facing off.

"I must object to this behavior," Wesley shouted, moving forward. "Miss Summers, you should never use your skills to try and hurt any human being, and you, Miss Williams, should never attack your fellow Slayer," he added, trying to look like the man in charge.

"I won't, unless she tries and hurts X again," Faith responded, with a smile at the blond, to let her know she was deadly serious.

"Miss Williams," Wesley began, until Jessica cut him off.

"I would appreciate it if you did not try and act as if you are in charge of Faith. She is my charge, not yours, and you would do well to remember that," Jessica told him, eying him with a dangerous glint. "Also, maybe you should try and give your charge some anger management lessons. Her actions tonight worry me, lashing out at normal people like that," she added with a smile.

Wesley remained quiet at the look in the female Watcher's eyes and backed off. He would talk to the Council and hope they had some advice for him or maybe something along the lines of making him senior Watcher of this group.

"Don't even think about it Wesley," Giles warned him. "I told you before we don't want the Council interfering in our group," he added, knowing from the look on the younger Watcher's face what he was thinking of doing.

"I believe there is more going on here than I know, especially between Miss Summers and Miss Williams' friend," Wesley shot back, trying not to look scared in front of the older Watcher, knowing full well what Rupert Giles was capable off, after his briefing with Quentin Travers. "If so, I must demand to be told the truth, especially if it concerns the return of the vampire formally called Angelus," he added.

"Return?" Xander asked. "What the hell do you mean return? He's back?" he added, his eyes locking onto Buffy, who smiled almost smugly at him.

"Yes, he is, and he still has his soul, so if you or your friends go near him, I will finish what I started before you left," Buffy warned him with a glare.

"How?" Amy asked.

"We're not sure how he came back. He was slightly wild for a while, according to Buffy, but he seems back to normal now and in possession of his soul," Giles replied. "It would seem that when he went through the portal to hell, he was Angel," he added.

"I hope this time you intend to keep a better eye on this vampire and his interactions with Miss Summers," Jessica pointed out with a concerned look at her friend.

"Yes, we do. I have no intention of losing any more friends to mistakes like this," Giles reassured her.

"Now, is this argument over with so that can we get back to the problem at hand?" Giles asked.

Buffy looked at her friends. Willow nodded her head, as did Oz, whilst Cordelia just looked bored. It was clear Cordelia had no intentions in making friends with Xander again. However, she guessed, due to the danger they now faced from this Kakistos and his lackeys, that she would have to put this aside for now.

"Okay Giles, for now this is tabled," Buffy agreed. "But when it's over I think we should all sit down and discuss things and I mean everything," she added.

"Okay," Xander nodded. "We deal with Kakistos and his children and then we talk." Xander turned and began to leave the library. Faith, Amy and Jessica followed. Xander paused as the others exited as he again felt that presence around him and he suddenly recognized what it was. It felt and smelled like Jenny Calendar and he realized that, thanks to the hyena senses now accessible to him, he was picking up her ghost, for that was what she was now.

He smiled a little as he processed this information and wondered if there was a way to make her spirit visible.

+++

Trick smiled as he arrived in Sunnydale and felt the rush of power from the Hellmouth. He had three days to raise his master's army before the others arrived. He knew, that if he failed again, he would not live to make up for it.  
15\. Chapter 15

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Dark Choices Chapter 15

Trick shook his head as he received the reports from the few vampires he had managed to convince to join him at his master's behest. He was disgusted that all of them were frightened of the blond Slayer and her group and that not even the news that Kakistos would be arriving soon could make them believe that they had a chance of succeeding, especially when they learned of the existence of a second Slayer.

He had expected them to sign up in rows when they learned that the one of the oldest vampires in the world would soon lead them to victory, but instead only a few of them dared to take a chance.

He knew his master would not be pleased by what he would see as his poor effort in recruiting an army of followers for him to use to destroy the Slayers and their friends. He knew Victoria would use this as an opportunity to continue to discredit him, so that she could become his favorite childe. He would have to try harder. No matter what it took, he had to get more vampires and maybe even a demon or two.

+++

Xander smiled as he watched the sun rise over his home town for the first time in a year. No matter how much he hated the place where he was born, where so many of his worst memories were placed, he still remembered the few good ones too, that had made him who he was today.

He wanted to visit the grave of his fallen friend Jessie as soon as he could. Before he had been forced to leave, he had always visited his grave to remember one of the three most important people in his childhood and although Willow had turned on him to support Buffy, he still remembered how much she had helped him when they were younger, before they had met Buffy. A small part of him wished they had never met her, that she had not come to Sunnydale.

He shook his head to clear that thought because he knew if she had not come, he, Amy, Willow and Jessie would have most likely all been killed or turned along with half the town and the master would have been freed with nothing to stop him.

"Xan, are you okay?" Amy's concerned voice brought him out of his darkening thoughts.

He tried to place a convincing smile on his face as he turned to face the only one of his three original friends who had always stood with him and never doubted him, as he had never doubted her. He could tell she was not convinced by his smile and he knew she could see the pain being back here was putting him through, the memories he was trying to suppress.

"I'll be okay Amy, it'll just take time," he tried to reassure her. "At least we have a bit of trust and willingness to work together with Buffy and the others," he told her.

"I don't trust the new Watcher or Buffy," Amy told him, as she walked over and hugged him, something he returned with real feeling, as he sought and gave comfort.

"Me either, not really, but we're going to have to try and put that aside, as much as we can in regards with Buffy, if we're to have any hope of surviving," Xander told her.

"And the Watcher?" she asked, as they looked to the rising sun.

"We'll keep an eye of him as much as we can. I think he could cause us all problems and I didn't like the way he was acting towards Jessica and Faith," he informed her.

"No, neither did I," she agreed. "His loyalty is only to the Council and I think he sees the rest of us as traitors," she added.

"I wouldn't worry too much about him Xander. Rupert and I will make sure Wyndam-Price doesn't become too much of a problem for us during or after this fight," Jessica assured them, as she and Faith entered the room.

Faith looked uneasy at seeing Xander and Amy breaking from what looked like to have been a tight embrace, especially after what they had confessed to each other during the fight to rescue Amy and Jessica.

Xander smiled at her and his eyes conveyed that she had nothing to worry about in that way. She nodded and promised herself she would make sure she and Xander would consummate their love soon, so that she would no longer have to worry about her own fears.

"He could be a big problem Jess, from what you've said about the Council. If he gives them a report that makes us out to be traitors like Amy said or that says we aren't doing our job. They'll come for us. You said they would," Faith reminded her Watcher and surrogate mother.

"Yes, I know Faith, but Rupert and I will make sure nothing happens to any of you. We've already formulated a plan to keep Wyndam-Price from contacting the Council or any of their close range agents who may have been assigned near Sunnydale," she informed her friends.

"If he brings any harm to any of us Jess, he will be dealt with," Xander warned her.

"Let us hope it will not come to that Xander," she replied. She was relieved to see him nod in agreement.

Buffy looked at her friends, as they sat down to discuss what was happening. Giles had gone home to find any books that might have any more information on Kakistos and Trick. Having Xander back had caused a huge feedback of feelings, both good and bad, for most of the group, especially Willow, who was fighting fifthteen years of friendship before everything had blown up in their faces during the Angelus crisis.

"So, do we trust them?" Oz spoke up first, asking the most important question.

"I guess," she heard Willow reply. "He seems to care about keeping this vampire and his children away from as many people as possible, especially Amy and their new friends," she added.

"He loves the brunette," Cordelia told them. "You could see the way he acted towards her and how annoyed he got when Wesley tried to make her sound unimportant," she continued.

Buffy agreed with this statement and she also believed Faith returned the feelings after being nailed by the brunette Slayer when she tried to hit Xander. She sighed. This would put pressure on any attempt to make friends with her new sister Slayer, but she decided to try, especially if they were to work together on patrol.

"Amy's powers have grown Buffy. She has a lot of magical energy surrounding her," Willow told her.

"Is she more powerful than you?" she asked.

"I think so. She's been studying longer than I have. She could be a problem if we attempt anything against Xander," she replied.

"We aren't going to try anything against him Willow, that's over with," Buffy replied, coming to a decision. "We can't afford grudges like that anymore. I can't if Faith and I are to survive working together," she added. "Plus with Wesley snooping around, if I lost control again, it could cost us all everything we've worked and fought for," she continued.

"Then we start from scratch in regards to them, right?" Willow asked with a small hopeful look on her face, at the prospect on renewing her friendship with her lost friend.

"Yes, we start fresh," she agreed, hoping it was possible to put things right between the group, as she realized a small part of her had missed the humor and protectiveness of her former friend and that she had indeed gone too far in her quest for revenge.

"I agree," Oz nodded. "Maybe once this new threat is dealt with we can build an even stronger group," he added.

Cordelia kept silent as the others agreed on this. She didn't know what to do in regards to Xander, but she decided she would deal with it later.

"Now we better get home and get some sleep. I think we're going to need it. I'll tell Angel about Xander's return and his friends tomorrow and then we can go about introducing him to Xander's group and hope Xander comes to the same decision as we did," Buffy told her friends.

"He will in time Buffy. He'll be wary of us for a bit, until he's sure we've put things behind us and want to start being friends again, for real," Willow told them, using her extensive knowledge of Xander as a sounding board for predicting his actions.

+++

"Xander, are you sure about what you were sensing?" Jessica asked her friend.

"Yeah, it was defiantly Miss Calendar's ghost Jess," Xander replied. "Is there any way to make her visible?" he asked.

"It is might be possible, but we need a third Witch," Jessica replied.

"We'll tell the whole group tomorrow about my suspicions. Giles may hit the roof, but if I'm right, we may get an important ally back," he replied.

"Agreed. Goodnight Xander," Jessica told him as he made his way to his bedroom.

"Night Jess," she heard him reply.

Jessica sighed, hoping Xander wasn't wrong about this. She would hate to get Rupert's hopes up, only for them to be dashed in the end.  
16\. Chapter 16

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Dark Choices Chapter 16

Giles just stared at Xander, as did most of the entire Scooby gang, after his explanation of what he had sensed inside the library. He shook his head as if to clear it so he could see if he had just misheard his friend when Buffy spoke up.

"Say that again," she demanded.

"I said Jenny Calendar's ghost resides here. For some reason her soul is shackled here," he said, again. "I can sense that it's her," he added.

"How?" Buffy demanded to know, forgetting she had agreed to be civil and try to build some trust between the two groups.

"Jessica used a spell to fuse the left over hyena traits in me, so that I could use some of its skills to my advantage, when we went patrolling," Xander replied, lying slightly.

"Wasn't that dangerous?" Willow asked, a little concern for her old friend showing through.

"Only if I didn't research the correct spell and if I wasn't a highly profound spellcaster," Jessica answered with a smile.

"Giles, did you know about this?" Buffy asked, with a slightly wary glance.

"Yes, I did," the former Watcher answered. "And before you start seeing shadows Buffy, believe me, Jessica would not have gotten the spell wrong," he added.

"He could still be dangerous, Giles. If the spell starts to loose in its effect," a new voice entered the conversation, and one everyone except Jessica and Faith recognized.

Xander was out of his seat in a second and nailed the new comer in the chest, sending him into the book case behind him. Angel didn't even had a chance to move. He had never expected Xander to move so fast. Buffy went to help her lover when she found herself forced back into her seat by Faith, who just glared at her.

"Xander, stop it now!" Buffy shouted.

"I am not going to stake him Buffy," Xander replied grimly, as the vampire pushed himself back to his feet. "But he is going to pay for Jenny and Kendra's deaths and the deaths of everyone else he killed," he continued. "You made him forget about that. That's why the curse broke, because he stopped suffering. Well, now it's time to start again," he finished, as he smashed his fist into the vampire's gut before moving away to stare at Buffy's outraged face.

"I may be working with you guys again, but that does not mean I have to be nice to that thing. He's a vampire Buffy, plain and simple, and it has been proven, thanks to you, that he can turn on us, because you forgot he's nothing but a corpse," he all but spat out.

Buffy tried to push herself to her feet, but again Faith held her in her place, making sure her fellow Slayer couldn't hurt her friend and almost lover. "Don't you think he's already paid enough?" Buffy growled.

"He'll never pay enough for the death and torture he's inflicted. That's why he was cursed by Jenny's clan in the first place," Xander spat back.

The vampire in question was back to his feet and he looked a little of balance by what had just happened. He had obviously been expecting Xander to be as he was before he was exiled by Buffy.

"Back to the subject at hand Xander," Giles interjected, finally coming back to himself and hoping to head off any more arguing over the vampire, he himself hated. "Are you positive it is her and not something else?" he asked, still not able to accept that this was possible.

"I would sense the difference if it was something pretending to be Jenny. Believe me Giles, it's her," Xander replied with a serious face.

"With Jessica, Amy and Willow we can do a spell which will make her ghost visible and maybe give her some ability to touch as well," he explained.

"Willow won't do this. It's too dangerous," Buffy spat out, losing focus on her previous goal and wanting to get a little revenge against what Xander had done to her vampiric lover.

"No, it is not, Miss Summers. If it was, do you really think I would allow Amy to help me?" Jessica asked pointedly.

"Willow? It's your choice," Xander said. "You don't have to do it. I just thought you guys would like to know about Jenny. I also thought that you would like her back in some way or form," he added, making it clear if Willow didn't want to do the spell, he wouldn't force her.

Willow looked to Giles for a few moments and could see the hidden hope and expectation on his face, before he managed to cover it up. She then looked at Oz and Buffy before nodding her head and replying, "I'll do it."

"Willow," Buffy went to object, but Willow cut her off.

"I'm doing it. We owe Miss Calendar that much and more," she responded.

"Excellent. I will go with Amy to get the supplies we need. I suggest you guys continue researching Kakistos and Trick in the mean time," Jessica said with a smile, pleased the red head had some independent thought left.

"Faith goes with you. Just in case they've hired more than just vampires," Xander told them.

"You got it X," Faith agreed, fearing the fight that was to come and not wanting any of her friends and especially Jessica, the woman who was now more of a mother to her than her own had been, to fall into their enemy's hands.

+++

Kakistos smiled as his blackened car headed into Sunnydale. His childe Victoria was also smiling, he knew she was looking forward not only to fighting the Slayer who had injured her master, but the blond Slayer as well.

"Soon Victoria, we will crush them soon," he promised, knowing she could be somewhat inpatient.

"Yes Master," Victoria replied. "Do you think Trick will have gathered enough troops?" she asked.

"If he knows what's best for him, he had better have assembled an army," Kakistos snarled.

"His last communication said he had hired some of the Order of Taraka as well my lord, which will boost our combined strength," Victoria reported.

"Yes, a smart move. We and the vampires I have brought from Boston should outnumber them ten to one," he agreed.

"What about the Mayor?" she asked.

"If he knows what's good for him, he will stay out of our way. If he does not, he will have to be removed," Kakistos answered. "If it comes to that, you may have that pleasure."

"Thank you master," Victoria smiled.

+++

The others stepped back as the spell began to build. Jessica, Amy and Willow each stood at a point within the triangle Jessica had drawn. The spell was boosted by the fact that the three witches made up a magical trinity.

A trinity, Xander knew, was the most powerful number when it came to witches. He had read in one of Jessica's books about the fabled Charmed Ones, three sisters, all witches, who would one day come into being to form the greatest trinity of all and who would help fight the forces of evil.

"Do you really think this is going to work?" Cordelia asked.

"Yes, Cordy, I do," he replied. "With their combined strength, this can't fail," he added with complete confidence.

Suddenly there was a burst of light from the middle of the library, which spread out to encompass the entire room. It lasted for a minute and then vanished, leaving a very real Jenny Calendar/Janna Kalderash standing in the middle of the triangle.

For a few moments she just stood there, before a smile blossomed on her face when she realized everyone could see her now and not just Xander with his enhanced senses.

Jessica, Amy and Willow fell to their knees, drained by the strength of the spell, Faith ran over with some water, as did Oz and Xander

"Jenny?" Giles asked, somewhat in shock along with Angel and Buffy.

"Hello Rupert," Jenny replied, before walking out of the circle and accepting the coat Xander handed her as the clothes she had on were ripped to shreds, showing more than they should. She quickly buttoned the coat up and then pulled Xander into a very long hug before pulling back a little. "Thank you," she said before kissing him for a few minutes, shocking the others a little.

"You're welcome Jenny," Xander replied as she released him.

"It's Janna, Jenny was my cover," she told them.

"I guess the spell worked in all of its aspects," Amy smiled, pleased with their effort.

"Yes, because of the fact you had a trinity do the spell," Janna smiled, very happy to be back in some form or other.

+++

Kakistos smiled as he looked over the amount of troops his childe had managed to recruit. There were many vampires, but not a lot of demons, which annoyed him a lot, but with the vampires he had brought and the assassins Trick had hired, this weakness was removed from his force.

"We shall destroy them," he whispered, as he ran his finger down the scar Faith had given him.  
17\. Chapter 17

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Dark Choices Chapter 17

The mayor looked over the reports his aide had placed on his desk. One informed him of the return of the Harris boy, who had been helping the blond Slayer, as well as the young witch Amy Madison. It also informed him that they had returned with a second Slayer and her Watcher. This surprised him and gave him some concerns about his plans for ascension.

The second report informed him of a huge build up of vampires, demons and members of the Order of Taraka, led by three master vampires of whom only one was known to him personally and that was Kakistos.

He sat back, as he thought over the two reports. He knew this was no coincidence. Kakistos was after the second Slayer and her friends, who had come with her, which was why Harris and Madison had come back to Sunnydale.

What could he do about this? The built up of two separate forces, no matter how focused they were on wiping each other out, posed a threat to him and his plans. He would have to move quietly, making sure not to tip Kakistos off that he was planning against him. Until he had recovered the Box of Gavrok, he was vulnerable to attack.

+++

Janna watched as Buffy and Giles talked heatedly about what had just taken place. It was clear to her, that Buffy did not like what was happening. Most likely due to the fact, that in her mind, she was losing control. The vampire, who had killed her, Angelus, was trying to stop watching her, as if she was a nightmare made real, whilst also trying to stay clear of what was now apparently a very dangerous Alexander Harris and his friends.

"Are you okay Janna?" a voice asked behind her. She turned to find Xander watching her.

"I am okay, just a little disoriented," she answered, as he sat next to her.

"Considering what you've gone through, no one could blame you," he told her. "I don't know how any of us would feel if we were killed by an insane vampire and then spent half a year as a ghost, shackled to a place any sane person would hate. Unable to contact anyone and then been brought back in a sense," he said, his eyes showing deep concern.

"It was frustrating to see that neither Rupert nor Willow could sense me. With Rupert's history with magic of both sides and Willow's growing power, I had thought one of them would have picked up something!" she told him, her tone betraying her anger.

"Yeah, I'm a bit surprised at that, but sadly neither Amy nor Jess sensed anything either, so it might be that you couldn't be picked up through magic," Xander replied.

"It's a possibility Alex, but at the moment I have so much anger in me that I can't think straight," she shot back.

"As I said, understandable," he replied, giving her a hand a small squeeze of support when Buffy's voice made everyone turn to look at her, as she voiced her paranoid thoughts.

"Giles, how do we know Xander isn't under someone's influence and the thing that looks like Miss Calendar isn't really some powerful demon?" she all, but shouted after becoming annoyed with Giles unwillingness to listen to her. She suddenly realized that everyone was looking at her and some of the faces showed their anger at her idea.

"B, don't you think we'd know if X was under some demon's control?" Faith asked. Her eyes showed her anger and her tone showed she wanted to lash out.

"Not necessarily," Buffy argued. "I mean, come on, do you honestly think that thing there is really Miss Calendar?" she asked.

"I know this is her Buffy. I've known her long enough to know her scent," Xander shot back as he stood up.

"And I take offense at being called a thing," Janna all but shouted. "Now I understand Buffy that you still have some issues concerning me, surrounding Angelus and also you still harbor some anger towards Alex, but I would hope you had grown up enough to not allow these things to distract you from the truth and the danger we are facing," she added, reining some of her anger back in.

"Buffy please, we are in enough trouble as it is. We cannot afford to be still fighting between ourselves," Giles cautioned her.

"Have any of you thought that this could be a trick of that thing that tried to get Angel to kill himself? He did say it took her form," she shot back, still angry they were not taking her worries seriously.

"She does raise a good point there Giles," Cordelia pointed out.

"Would you like to explain what you're talking about?" Amy asked.

"A month ago Angel was haunted by something that was trying to get him to commit suicide, it could take the forms of his victims including Jenny," Giles explained. "We found out it was the First Evil. However, we managed to defeat it and its followers, the bringers," he added.

"I am not the First Evil," Janna sighed. "I can touch people and I have my entire life's memories in my head," she told them.

"And as I said before, I can smell her scent. It is her Buffy, just accept it," Xander butted in.

Before anyone could add to the conversation the library doors burst open, allowing a huge number of vampires to charge into the library.

+++

Five minutes before

Trick looked at the school that his reports told him that the Slayer and her friends used as a base of operations. He found it strange that anyone who fought vampires would use such a public building as their base, as it opened them up to a surprise attack.

Kakistos had ordered this attack to assess the strength of the combined force of their enemies. He was not looking forward to fight two Slayers, but with their numerical advantage, he believed they would win this war.

The scout he had sent on ahead came running back over, looking slightly amused at something.

"Report?" he commanded.

"Master, they are currently arguing between themselves. They aren't expecting any attack so soon," he responded.

"Excellent," he grinned. "Destroy them," he ordered as the group of twenty vampires marched towards the school.

+++

Faith, Xander, Buffy and Angel reacted the fastest to the sudden attack, Giles and the others were moving only seconds after that, and grabbed weapons to help defend the library.

Xander and Faith tore into the left side of the attack as Buffy and Angel jumped into the right side. Janna began to mouth a spell as she suddenly became transparent, while Willow and Amy both came up behind her along with Jessica, who also began mouthing a spell. Seven of the vampires on both sides suddenly burst into flames.

Xander let out a scream of pain as one of the vampires managed to claw his right arm, before he was able to knock it down, as Amy threw him a stake to finish the vamp. Faith always kept a stake on her and had already staked three of the suckers. Oz managed to dust another as it went for Cordelia.

Buffy dusted the vampire she was fighting when she saw four of them rush Angel, knocking him to the ground and beating on him, cutting him open in three places. She growled, as she grabbed a piece of wood from a broken chair and jumped into the fight, dusting one as she nailed the other with a spin kick.

Giles managed to dust the third with a crossbow shot, whilst the last one burst into flame from another of Jessica's spells.

Xander watched in horror as one of the vamps almost nailed Faith with a knife. Suddenly being overwhelmed with an animalistic rage, he charged the vamp, throwing it into the door before staking it. He was satisfied to see the last few remaining vamps run away. He turned and headed towards Faith and quickly swept her into a heated kiss, not noticing Amy's disappointed look.

The others just shook their heads whilst Jessica smiled, glad to see that the fight had finally broken whatever was holding Faith and Xander back from moving on in their relationship.

Janna was also smiling as she realized she could become solid again by concentrating hard enough.

+++

Kakistos snarled as he watched Trick return with only five surviving vampires and his report only angered him further when he learned they had the element of surprise and wasted it.

"Master, it was the witches that gave them the advantage," Trick told him fearfully.

"Then you should have made sure they were the targets of the attack. Next time, make it clear that the witches are to be killed as quickly as possible," he ordered.

"Of course Master," Tricked bowed and quickly left his master's presence.

+++

"I think this shows what infighting can do," Amy said, as she tended to Xander's arm, trying to suppress her hurt at finally finding out Xander had chosen Faith and not her.

"Okay, I won't cause anymore arguments, until we deal with this Kakistos and his lackeys," Buffy relented.

"Good, now I suggest everyone goes home and gets some sleep. I think we are going to be quite busy in the next couple of days," Giles said, tired of the arguments between the two groups.

"Good idea G," Faith said with a smile, but Jessica could tell that sleep was the last thing on her adopted daughter's mind after Xander's kiss.

"What about Janna?" Xander asked as Amy finished cleaning his arm.

"I'll go with Rupert. We need to have a very long talk," Janna answered.

"Agreed," Giles nodded.

+++

Victoria smiled as she watched the dark haired Slayer enter the house with her lover, her Watcher and her friend, and promised that very soon all of them would be dead at her hand, for their part in injuring her master. She would make sure the dark haired Slayer suffered before she died.

She would challenge both Slayers as soon as she could. She wanted to see if either was as good as the last Slayer, she had fought, had been or as good as their records suggested they were.

+++

Xander kissed Faith with every bit of the passion he had been holding back, as she pushed them towards her bed, her hands roughly pulling his t-shirt off. His legs hit the bed and he fell over and Faith followed after, throwing her own t-shirt off, revealing she was wearing nothing underneath, which took his breath away. Soon he couldn't even think, as he was swept away in the powerful sensation of making love to Faith.  
18\. Chapter 18

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Dark Choices Chapter 18

Xander woke to the sensation of someone lying against him. At first he was a little startled by that feeling until the memory of the night before came back to him, causing him to smile. He felt Faith shift against him, still asleep and turned, as slowly, as he could to see Faith spooned against his side, with a peaceful look on her face. It made her look even more beautiful, than she always was.

He knew this would cause some complications with Amy. He knew his friend had developed a crush on him and he hoped this would not cause her too much pain. He did not want another argument within the group, like the one that happened when he and Cordy had started seeing one another, before everything went to hell as Buffy turned on him.

He suddenly noticed Faith's eyes were open and was watching him with a small smile on her face, as he was deep in thought.

"Good morning," he said with a smile.

Faith just smiled at him and then leaned up and kissed him, before closing her eyes and resting against him. He pulled her closer and then closed his own eyes and decided to sleep in a bit, if he could.

+++

Amy sat at the dinner table, trying to eat her breakfast. She tried to ignore Xander's and Faith's empty chairs, which meant that they were still in bed. It pained her to know that he had chosen the dark haired Slayer, but she knew he would still be her friend and she decided to do her best not to cause any problems within their group by being jealous.

She noticed Jessica was watching her with some concern on her face, so she smiled before continuing to eat.

Jessica sighed, hoping this new change in the group wouldn't cause any trouble. She knew Amy was hurting, but was hopeful that she would move on and bury her hurt. She was happy for Faith to have found someone she loved and for Alexander as well. She just hoped that once everything was settled, they would be able to enjoy some peace.

+++

Giles sighed as he sat down, trying to avoid the angry look on Janna's face. Their talk had not gone well and had only caused a deeper anger to settle over the formerly ghostly techno pagan. Every reason for doing the things he had, in support of Buffy during the Angelus crisis had been rejected as stupidity on his part.

Janna believed he should have done more to make sure Buffy dealt with the deadly vampire, as quickly as possible, but instead he had allowed her to wallow in agony, and it had resulted in Janna's death and that of everyone else the vampire had killed, including Kendra.

He could not blame her for her reasoning. He had made a few mistakes in his actions during that time concerning his handling of Buffy and in the end, it had cost him the life of the woman he had come close to loving.

"We should go. We're having a meeting with the others in half an hour," he finally spoke up.

"Fine," Janna replied, her anger still clear in her voice.

+++

The library was soon filled with the two groups and the tension in the room was high from the many personal issues between the people gathered there. Xander shook his head. He didn't like this at all, and Wesley was looking a little too smug for his liking. The looks Janna and Giles kept shooting at each other didn't look hopeful. He also noticed Buffy and Angel looked a little tense as well and he began to wonder if any of them were going to survive.

"Before we begin this meeting, I would like to inform you all that the Council has ordered me to take full control of both groups during this crisis," Wesley began, with his smug look still in place.

"I really don't think so Wes," Xander said, as he stood. "Not only do we not recognize you as a leader, we don't believe in your ability to help us survive the current crisis," Xander told him.

"You have no choice Mr. Harris. The Council has given me all the power I need to do as I have been ordered," Wesley countered.

"Call me Mr. Harris again and I will make you hurt, got me?" Xander warned him.

"Alex," Jessica said softly, hoping to keep Xander's temper in check, knowing her friend didn't like been addressed like that, as it made him think of his father. A man he despised.

"Sorry Jess," Xander apologized. "But the point stands. None of us will follow you, Wesley, and your Council can either accept it or they can take a hike," he told the stunned Watcher.

"You can't do that," Wesley spluttered, shocked by the response.

"Yes, we can and we have, now either help us or leave. It's your choice. We have an army of vamps and demons to destroy, as well as three master vampires to deal with," Giles told him with a cold glare.

Both groups watched with some amusement as the annoying Watcher wannabe ran out of the library with a confused and bewildered expression on his face.

"What now?" Willow asked.

"We try and plan an effective strategy without our own internal problems getting in the way," Xander replied, reminding them all they still had issues between them.

+++

Victoria growled in annoyance, as her master once again denied her the go ahead to engage one of the two Slayers. Instead he instructed Trick to once again plan an attack on their adversaries during their patrols. She knew her master had his plans on how to deal with the Slayers and their friends, but so far he had shared very little of them with her and it enraged her.

She caught the cocky grin that Trick sent her, as he left their master's presence and it took all of her control not to attack him right there. She held back, because she knew that in the end their master would send her to finish the Slayers, because she knew how they think and how they fight. She also knew how they were trained, as she had been one before she was turned.

+++

"Well, any ideas?" Buffy asked.

"We have one major advantage over the vampires and that is our magic users," Giles began.

"They were very effective last night during the attack, especially Janna with her ability to become transparent," he added.

"However, I don't how I did it Rupert, hence there is no guarantee I'll be able to do it again on command during a fight," Janna cautioned.

"Maybe you should practice a bit after the meeting," suggested Jessica, to which Janna agreed.

"We'll have to make sure our patrols from now on aren't too far apart so we can come to each other's aid, as quickly as possible if one of ours groups is attacked," Faith added, as she thought through possible strategies.

"And also that each group has two magic users in it," Jessica added.

"Agreed," Giles nodded.

"We also better start thinking about dealing them a crippling blow," Xander put in.

"How Xan?" Amy asked.

"By using a little modern warfare," Xander answered, with an almost insane grin.

"We don't use guns or things like that Xander," Buffy objected immediately.

"Forgetting how effective that rocket launcher was on the Judge, are we Buffy?" Xander asked and smiled, as Buffy's mouth opened and shut twice, unable to come up with any retort.

"Exactly what are you thinking of using?" Oz asked, somewhat curious despite himself.

"Some Molotov cocktails and maybe, if I can get my hands on some supplies, some other explosives," Xander answered, the grin back in place. "Guns won't do shit to the vampires, except hurt them and there will be too many of them for us to use guns to any real advantage, unless we have some sort of special ammo that could kill vampire's straight out," Xander explained.

"It may give us a decent advantage, if they try and overwhelm us by sheer numbers, Buffy," Willow admitted, not exactly liking the idea, but seeing the usefulness of her former friend's plan.

"Okay okay," Buffy relented.

"I would suggest no one goes out alone, either by day or by night. Remember, we aren't just up against vampires, but most likely demons as well," Janna warned the assembled group.

Everyone agreed to that, before breaking up and going their separate ways or splitting of into smaller groups. Giles and Jessica remained behind to do some more planning about what to do about Wesley and the Council, should they return.  
19\. Chapter 19

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Dark Choices Chapter 19

Travers snarled as he listened to Wesley's report on the situation in Sunnydale. He couldn't believe it. First Rupert Giles defies the Council and tells Summers about the test, forcing him to fire one of his best researchers, and then Jessica Rine and her Slayer turn up in Sunnydale, after fleeing Boston with two helpers that she had made no mention of at all in her reports to the Council. Now both groups were refusing to obey the Council and had basically told them to go to hell.

"Sir, are you still there?" Wesley's voice broke him out of his reverie.

"Yes, I am," he growled back. "I want you to stay where you are Wyndam-Price. I'm sending a delegation to Sunnydale to rectify the situation and you are not to notify Giles or Rine of their arrival, are we clear?" he ordered.

"Yes, Sir," Wyndam-Price answered before hanging up.

Travers leaned back in his chair. He felt a headache beginning to come on. He would send two of the Council's assault teams to deal with the rogue Slayers. If they refused to obey a second time, he would send Johnson with the team to give them the option to realign with the Council.

Hopefully they wouldn't be foolish enough to refuse. This would also make sure he would avoid any dissidents within the Council, who might oppose executive action against the Slayers. He would also order the disposal of Giles and Rine.

+++

Xander ducked the swing from the vampire he was currently fighting, before coming back up with an uppercut, causing it to stagger, before swinging with a left fake and catching him with a right jab, keeping it off balance, as Faith came up behind it and staked it. The vampire quickly disintegrated.

He turned to see Janna and Amy under heavy attack by a bunch of vampires. Oz was doing his best to keep their numbers down, but he could only do so much. The only reason the two witches were still alive, was that they had conjured a shield around themselves, but he could see they were weakening.

"Let's go," he said, before running straight for the fight, Faith right behind him. He hoped Buffy's group wasn't having so much trouble.

+++

Buffy hit her head on the tree she had been thrown against by the rather large demon she had been fighting. The others were trying to stem of vampires in larger numbers than they were used to dealing with. What was weird was that the vampires were targeting Jessica and Willow more than the others.

She got back to her feet and smashed the demon into the tomb behind it. She grabbed the sword the demon had dropped and tried to ram it through, but the demon managed to side step it and sent her flying back into the tree.

Cursing, she rushed forward again and tried to fake the demon out. It worked, the demon went to defend its right side and she swung the sword into its left, cutting deep. It screamed in pain, as she pulled the sword out and then quickly decapitated the thing, taking advantage of its pain.

Barely catching her breath, she charged towards the vampires, which were attacking the others.

+++

Xander screamed as one of the vampires managed to dig one of its claws into his right leg, just as he staked it. Managing to stay on his feet, he pushed forwards to the two vampires who were trying to force themselves through the shield to get to Janna. She was barely conscious at this point and Amy seemed to be already out cold, which meant that Janna was holding the shield up by herself. He knew that sooner or later she would collapse and both witches would be left unable to protect themselves.

Faith was a few meters away from him, fighting two of the bigger vampires, whilst Oz was off to the side, fighting one of his own. His crossbow lay on the ground and was forgotten.

+++

Buffy staked the vampire that had almost managed to break Cordelia's neck as it charged her, while she was aiming at another vamp with her crossbow. She shook her head, this attack was one of the heaviest she had ever been in and she wondered if Xander and his team had also been jumped with a big force, which they were barely managing to fight off.

The biggest problem was their main advantage had been taken out of the fight as neither of the witches could cast any spells whilst they were concentrating on holding up the shield that was protecting them from the mass of vampires.

She ducked the swing of another vampire and caught it with a back kick before launching herself at another of the vampires, with the sword she had taken of the dead demon leading the way. She managed to swing the sword and caught the vampire in its leg, before she brought it up with a burst of strength, dusting the vampire as the sword broke into its chest.

+++

Xander and Faith managed to kill the two big vampires she was fighting, thanks to Oz dusting his own vamp and picking up his crossbow and once again laying down cover fire. This included the vampires that were closest to the shield, which seemed to be shrinking as Janna's strength weakened. They were left with only five vampires, but all of them were at the limits of their endurance.

The vampires tried to catch them off guard with a combined charge, but Oz was ready for it and caught the lead vamp in the heart, dusting it, while Xander and Faith both threw their last stakes at the two flanking vampires, managing to dust both of their targets. The remaining vampires turned tail and fled into the fight.

Faith collapsed to her knees, completely drained. Oz also was on his knees, trying to catch his breath while keeping an eye out for any other vampires. Xander weakly made his way over to Janna and Amy.

"Janna, you can drop the shield, it's over," he told her.

"Are you sure?" she asked, barely able to get the words out.

"I'm sure. We'll get you back safely, you need rest now," Xander replied.

Janna didn't reply, as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed, completely out cold.

"We need to get back to the library to meet up with the others. Faith do you have enough strength to carry Amy?" he said to the others.

"I think so X," she replied, pushing herself back to her feet and moving to pick up her friend, as Xander picked up Janna and Oz moved to cover them all of them. They were all tired and yet they knew they couldn't relax yet.

+++

Buffy decapitated one of the few remaining vampires. She knew her strength was waning, but she also knew she couldn't give up. Giles and Cordelia were both using crossbows now to cover Willow and Jessica, who had collapsed due to the effort of keeping up the shield that had protected them from the vampires.

There were only seven left. She hefted her sword again and moved to fight them, as Giles and Cordelia both fired again, dusting two of the vampires just as she jumped and swung the sword one last time, catching two of the others by surprise, decapitating one and wounding the other, as the sword embedded itself in its side, causing it to cry out it pain.

The remaining vampires retreated, as Giles and Cordelia fired once again, dusting one more, before the vampires vanished. Buffy looked down at the vampire who was screaming in pain, before she grabbed one of her stakes of the ground and staked it.

"Giles, you better grab Jessica while I carry Willow. We have to get back and check on the others. Cordelia, you cover us," Buffy ordered, as she threw the sword away and went to pick up the redhead, while Giles picked up his friend and Cordelia reloaded her crossbow.  
20\. Chapter 20

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Dark Choices Chapter 20

The library was in chaos as the injured were patched up and exhaustion began to take its toll. Janna, Amy, Jessica and Willow were still out cold from the draining result of using so much of their magical energy.

Faith and Buffy were both almost asleep in their chairs, both feeling almost overwhelmed by the fight they had just been in, made all the harder by trying to keep their friends alive, whilst fighting. This left Giles, Xander, Oz and Cordelia to try to patch up everyone, themselves included. Finally after half an hour they too collapsed into some chairs and tried to rest.

"I think it's clear now that they will try and kill our magical advantage in any further engagements," Giles finally said, after a few minutes of silence.

"Agreed. They probably saw how effective it was during their attack on the library and decided that if they wanted us dead, the witches had to go first," Xander agreed tiredly.

Faith and Buffy pulled themselves together to concentrate on the conversation, as it began and frowned as they realized things had gotten more dangerous.

"So what do we do now Giles?" Buffy asked.

"We will have to stay in groups. If any of us wander alone from this point forth, I think any demons working for Kakistos will be waiting for us, even by day," Giles replied, rubbing his tired eyes.

"Yeah, that's what Janna said before," Faith reminded them.

"Well, it's even more important now as the main targets will be Jessica and the others and then you or Buffy," Giles said with a nod, as he recalled that his former lover had warned them about this, as things heated up.

"Oz, help me barricade the library. We're going to have to stay here tonight. Giles, if you know any shield magic we can use to make sure they can't get in, that would be helpful," Xander said, standing up with a groan as his back protested.

Oz gave a small nod and quickly got up and began to help the former Scooby to seal up the doors to the library, as Giles began to look in an old book for a shield spell he remembered seeing during his early years with Ethan.

"Anybody know where Deadboy was tonight?" Xander asked, as he began to block the back entrance from the stacks.

"He went looking for information on the whereabouts of Kakistos' base, said it may take a while," Buffy replied with a frown.

"Let's hope he finds something because at this point, we're on the defensive and that's not going to do us much good," Xander replied.

"I found a shield spell which should last until day break," Giles spoke up with a small smile.

"Excellent," this came from Faith, before she put her head against the table and began to fall asleep.

+++

Angel growled, as he punched the vampire bitch he was currently fighting against. She was good, that was clear, but it was also clear that she was arrogant, almost like Angelus was during a fight, which usually, against a decent enemy, would cost him said fight.

She was also cocky and kept trying to taunt him, another mistake common amongst vampires. He watched, as she jumped back to her feet with practiced ease and wiped some blood of her face.

"You're good Angelus, but that's not unexpected from the once great warrior of the Master," she told him. "It's a shame you're subservient to the Slayers and their friends. You would have made a good ally," she continued.

"Not in your unlife," he shot back, as he prepared for another attack.

"You can't beat me. I have not only the strength of a vampire in me, but that of a Slayer as well," she warned him.

"How?" Angel asked, surprised.

"My name is Victoria Jenkins and I was once a Slayer. My master turned me when I impressed him while trying to kill him," the now revealed Victoria told him.

Angel tried not to show any fear at such a combination of strength, but if what she said was true, she was stronger than nearly any vampire, except the oldest of their kind was. He remembered what Giles had reported during the brief on their foe, which he had supposedly turned a Slayer, and now he had the proof. He had to get out of here with this information, as well the location he had gotten of Willy, as to where Kakistos base was.

"I will fight and kill both Slayers very soon Angelus, as I have fought and killed those before them," Victoria laughed, before launching a powerful back kick, which Angel just managed to block before he connected with an under hook straight to the vampire's jaw, knocking her to the ground.

Instead of continuing the fight Angel turned and fled, knowing he had to get to Buffy and the others with the information he had gathered.

Victoria stood and watched as the once mighty Angelus ran away. She shook her head in disappointment, she had expected much more from the former favorite of the Master.

+++

The council team arrived near daybreak. Johnson looked at the leader of the assault team with distaste. He didn't like the man and he didn't like what they might try to do if Rupert Giles and Jessica Rine refused to obey Travers' orders. He noticed Wesley Wyndham-Price awaiting their arrival and shook his head, as he found himself surrounded by Travers' lackeys.

He wished he could do something other than maintain his cover, so he could find something to charge Travers with. To make sure that the more decent members of the Council could arrest Travers, he had to remain quiet. Although this could well be the opportunity they had been waiting for.  
21\. Chapter 21

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Dark Choices Chapter 21

Angel found the library blocked by some unknown shield magic. Obviously the patrols last night had been bad and caused the gang to hold up inside the library, protected by magic. He shook his head, knowing he would have to wait until sun up, and so headed to one of his secret hideouts, which only he and Buffy knew the locations of.

He hoped the situation wouldn't get any worse, before he could give the information he had gathered to the others.

+++

Johnson sighed as he listened to Wyndam-Price rant, as if he was someone who actually meant anything within the Council. It was clear that the small amount of power Travers had granted the man, so he could be made field Watcher to the lead Slayer had gone to his head, without him realizing that Travers would sacrifice him in a second if he needed to.

"So what's the play?" the assault leader asked Johnson.

"First I go and see if I can persuade the group to remain loyal to the Council and agree to work with us again," Johnson answered.

"Under me," Wyndam-Price butted in with a superior tone, which annoyed Johnson to no end.

"Actually, if they agree to the proposal, a combined command will be formed between Giles, Rine and yourself Wyndam-Price, as I managed to convince Travers it would be the best way to prevent any further trouble," Johnson told the man with a feeling of joy at the look of shock written across his fellow Watcher's face.

He had indeed managed to convince Travers to allow Giles to be reinstated, if he agreed to cooperate and also to the formation of a joint command as well, but of course, if they refused even once, Travers had made it clear they were to be killed. Every last one of them, which would of course be made to look like they had been killed by vampires and demons.

However, unknown to any of Travers' men or Travers himself, a second Council team was in Sunnydale, waiting to take out Travers' team, as soon as they attempted to kill the Slayers and their respective teams. A few would be wounded only so they could be made to give evidence against Travers.

Johnson hoped that things would go to plan and not get any bloodier than necessary.

"And if you're talks fail, Johnson?" the assault leader asked.

"Your orders are to take them out, all of them," Johnson told him. "And this order comes from Travers himself," he added.

"My word, is that necessary?" Wyndam-Price asked, suddenly pale.

"Travers thinks so," Johnson replied, curious about the abrupt change in Wyndam-Price. Maybe he wasn't as subservient to Travers as they had thought.

+++

Kakistos shook his head as Victoria gave her report on her encounter with Angelus. He was surprised the former elite of the Master had not stayed to finish the fight. Even with all of Victoria's strength, Angelus should have been able to beat her. He knew all about Angelus and apart from himself, the Master and his own sire Darla, Angelus was one of the most dangerous vampires ever.

His childe should be dead, but it was clear other things were on the traitor's mind, but what? Were the rumors he had heard about Angelus working with the Slayer true? He could barley believe it. How did the elite of the Master and childe of the great Darla sink so low? He shook his head again, as he watched his childe walk away.

+++

Xander woke to find not just Faith resting against him, but somehow during the night both Janna and Amy had decided to use him as a pillow. He smiled at the sight of all three women resting against him. Janna and Faith had taken a shoulder each and Amy was using his stomach.

He tried to look around and noticed Jessica and Giles were both already awake and while Jessica seemed to find his situation amusing, he noticed Giles looked somewhat cold due to Janna's presence next to him. It was his own fault, as far as Xander was concerned. He had his chance with the beautiful gypsy, but had turned his back on her during the Angelus crisis.

Plus one thing, which was confusing Xander was whether or not Janna was actually alive after the ritual to bring her across, so everyone could see her. It was clear to him that the magic had an all together unexpected effect on the witch. He wondered just how far the trinity spell had gone. Janna was like no ghost he had heard of. She could touch, fight, and he had felt her breathe. He decided to do some research in a bit.

The doors to the library suddenly opened to allow Angel to enter. He was looking somewhat relieved to see them all alive. Xander also noticed the vampire was looking eager to say something and he guessed he had found what he had gone looking for, which as far as he was concerned a good thing.

He gently woke each of the girls who were resting against him. Faith gave him a wicked smile, as she noticed the other two girls who had joined them during the night, which he shook off, whilst both Janna and Amy blushed, although Janna tried to hide the fact.

"Better wake the others," he told them. "You got something Deadboy?" he asked the vampire, gaining a frown from his hated foe, guessing he had come from the sewers down in the school basement.

"Yes, I have important news, both good and bad," the souled vampire replied.

Xander nodded, as he went and sat next to Jessica, as she began pouring some tea for everyone. Cordelia and Buffy were the last to join them, both looking tired and cranky.

"So, let's have it," Faith urged.

"First the good news, I found Kakistos' base," Angel told them.

"Excellent! I knew you could do it Angel," Buffy said, hugging her boyfriend.

Xander and Faith shared a roll of the eyes.

"And the bad news?" Janna asked, frowning at the vampire who she held nothing, but hate for.

"The rumor about him turning a Slayer is true," Angel replied, gaining a groan of horror from the group.

"How do you know?" Jessica asked.

"I ended up fighting her last night, said her name was Victoria Jenkins," Angel answered. "She told me she was turned after she tried to kill him and impressed him," he added.

"Shit," Buffy cursed.

"Double that B," Faith agreed, not liking the idea of fighting a vampire who used to be a Slayer.

"I'll have a look in the Watcher diaries I still have and see if I can find anything on her," Giles said, as he removed his glasses and rubbed them.

Before anyone could say anything the doors opened again and Wesley walked in, accompanied by another man who only Giles and Jessica seemed to recognize.

"Charles Johnson, what are you doing here?" Jessica asked, suddenly worried about who might have come with the Council man.

"We need to have a long talk, all of us," Johnson replied, hoping things would not escalate beyond anyone's control.

"About what?" came the cold voice of Rupert Giles, reminding Johnson of just how dangerous the older man was.

"I have come here to try and convince you to rejoin the Council without any trouble," Johnson replied.

"And if we do not?" Xander asked, as he got up and walked towards the man.

Johnson hesitated, knowing things would not go as smoothly as he hoped they would. Luckily the assault team was not listening in and so he could give them a warning, as to what Travers was planning. Especially now that Wyndam-Price had sworn he would not support Travers' course of action.

"Travers has sent two assault teams with me. If you do not agree, he wants you all terminated," Johnson warned them. "However," he said quickly, hoping to cut off any angry retorts, "I am not with Travers. I'm part of a group within the Watchers, who are trying to get rid of Travers and his group of power mongers," he continued.

"You're with Sarah Ellinton?" Jessica asked, beginning to feel relieved.

"Yes, her group has grown as Travers has become more and more focused of extending his own power base," Johnson said with a nod. "I have another team with me, waiting in the wings to take out Travers' men as soon as they make their move on you," he added.

"Why wait?" Amy inquired.

"We need proof of what Travers was planning here. Some will just be wounded so they can testify along with me and Wesley here, who has seen how corrupt his boss is," Johnson informed them, pointing to the sheepish looking man who seemed to have lost all of his bluster.

"Giles, Jess?" Xander asked, looking to the two Watchers.

"I think we can trust him, especially if he works for Sarah Ellinton," Giles answered after a few minutes.

"Then we better get this Council sorted now. Those vampires aren't gonna wait long to hit us again," Faith said, shooting to her feet.

"Agreed," Jessica nodded along with the others as they sat down to discuss everything that was going on.

+++

The Mayor once again looked over his daily reports on the situation which was growing in Sunnydale, threatening his plans for accession. A third party had now shown up, consisting of Council assault teams. He shook his head, knowing he would have to act soon to eliminate as many as he could before everything exploded, destroying the hard work of almost a hundred years.  
22\. Chapter 22

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Dark Choices Chapter 22

Xander looked through the seventh book he had managed to find in the library about which trinities and the power of their spells and so far, the only group with the power to do what Amy, Jessica and Willow had done were the fabled Charmed ones and no one even knew, if they existed yet.

He sighed, looking over to where Janna, the object of his current thoughts, stood. She was talking to Jessica. The spell definitely had some other effects than to make her visible to other people, but he hadn't been able to find any leads as to what. He would have to share his suspicions with the others and see what they thought.

Giles was currently discussing what was about to happen in the next half hour, concerning the attack by the two council assault teams with Faith and Buffy. The timing was going to be everything. If Johnson and his own team were even a minute late, then anyone of their group could die. Xander was determined not to let that happen. He had already gone home and collected his own weapons, including two shotguns and a few handguns, leaving his machine guns for a later date.

He guessed he owed something to the gun laws of the US, which basically let anyone buy weapons for defense purposes, even if those laws are a bit stricter here in California, there are still ways around that if you know them. Buffy hadn't been happy about him bringing the weapons in, but both Giles and Jessica had overruled her.

Willow, Cordelia, Oz, and Amy were huddled in a group, also talking about what was about to go down. He could tell they were nervous and a little scared, not that he could blame them, but to him the main problem they were facing was Kakistos and his followers. Still, he had to agree one problem at a time was more than enough and hopefully things would go according to plan.

+++

Johnson smiled as he watched Pete Nichols move his team into position, ready to ambush Travers' goon squad. Pete's team was made up out of some of the best sharp shooters the Council had, outside of those employed by Travers himself. Some of the men were even former SAS men, who had encountered vampires or other supernatural creatures and had been offered the chance to combat them.

He was praying the plan would work. He didn't want to tell Sarah that some of their own people, which included now both Slayers and their respective teams, had been killed. Their odds had gone up a bit, when the kid Alexander had decided to bring some firearms for his group, which would make the initial assault less deadly for them, provided they could pin the goons down with a return volley.

+++

Fred Maddocks sighed as he listened to Travers rant and rave through his ear piece, just before he launched his attack against the renegade Slayers and their friends. He might work for Travers, doing whatever the man asked due to the cash involved, but personality wise, he despised the man.

"I understand," he replied as Travers finally finished telling him not to leave anyone alive before signing off.

"Jerk," he muttered under his breath before turning to face his team, who were all loyal to Travers for the same reason he was, money. "Okay, form up. I want Larson and Williams on point with the smoke launchers," he ordered, as he moved forward, hefting his own assault rifle. "Both fire two shots if you can, if not, just the one will do and then switch to your MK's," he added.

"Yes sir," both Larson and Williams replied with tight lipped smiles at the idea of a fight. Maddocks sighed again, as he wondered why he always ended up working with thugs.

"The rest of you go in shooting. Give them everything you got and don't stop until I say so," Maddocks told the others.

"What about someone to cover our backs sir?" Stevens asked.

"Not necessary. Everyone we need to kill will be in front of us, so focus on what's ahead of you," he answered, not knowing the doom he was bringing to himself and his team.

"Now, let's go!" he shouted, as he began to lead his men towards their waiting targets.

+++

Xander looked out of the window and noticed the black suited figures, which were now approaching their position. He was hard pressed not to open fire right away and try and catch as many as possible by surprise, but he suppressed the impulse.

"They're here. Everyone get ready!" he called to the others, but made sure his voice didn't carry outside.

Giles, Jessica and Oz all checked their weapons one last time, as Willow, Amy and Janna began casting a shield, which should hopefully stop some of the bullets getting through from the initial barrage. Cordelia was hidden in the office along with Faith and Buffy, all armed with crossbows just in case their help was needed, whist Angel, being immune to bullets, was behind the stacks and closest to the door so he could jump straight in.

"I hope this insane plan works," Willow muttered.

"Have a little faith Wills," Oz replied, causing the witch to smile at her boyfriend.

"Remember, let them fire first, then we keep them low with our return volley as best we can, until the others turn up," Giles reminded everyone.

Xander took his place covering Janna as she continued to chant her portion of the shield spell. Xander breathed deeply, as he pulled on the memories of actually having been in a battle and flipped the safety off his weapon while leaning against the desk, pretending to look busy just like the others.

Five minutes later the doors were blown apart as two smoke bombs flew into the library and began to flood the room, obscuring their view. Then the room was filled with the bursts of automatic weapons fire.

"Now, fire now!" Giles shouted as he began to unload his shotgun into the enemy while Amy began to use her magic to disperse the smoke.

Xander, Oz and Jessica also opened fire, as did Buffy, Faith and Cordelia, whose orders were to wound some of the assault team, so they could give evidence against Travers.

Janna suddenly screamed as a bullet ripped through the shield in front of her and hit her in the shoulder. Another was close to joining it before Xander threw himself at the witch, knocking her to the floor, taking the bullet himself in his own shoulder, causing him to cry out as well.

Angel was flung back from the fight he had engaged in with the assault team leader, as he was hit by no less than thirteen shots in rapid succession.

Suddenly a new wave of automatic fire hit the library, but it was coming from behind the assault team and joining the fire burst were screams of men dying. Oblivious, the team sent by Sarah Ellington had arrived as well. Xander rolled off Janna as he tried to stem the flood of blood from his shoulder. Janna did the same to her own wound and neither noticed their blood mixing together and glowing in a bright red white for a moment before the light vanished again.

"Clear!" An unknown voice suddenly shouted out, as the automatic weapons fire died down.

"Clear!" Another voice rang out.

"Mr. Giles?" The first voice inquired.

"We're clear, but we have wounded!" Giles responded.

"Jake, go see what you can do," the voice ordered.

"Yes sir," someone answered.

Xander and Janna were joined a few seconds later by a sandy haired man with green eyes, who quickly assessed their wounds before reaching into the bag at his side and begun to remove items to help treat them.

Faith, Buffy and Cordelia exited the office, all looking a little shaky.

"Is it over Giles?" Cordelia asked.

"Yes, it is," Giles replied, rubbing his eyes as he watched as Johnson entered the room and looked relieved to see everyone was alive at least.

"We have four still alive, sir," one of the men reported, "Including the team leader Fred Maddocks," he added, looking pleased.

"Excellent," Pete Nicols answered with a relieved smile as his team had come through without any casualties. "Treat their injuries and then secure them for the trip back. Mason, get the camera footage from the security system," he added.

"Yes sir," his men responded.

"How are they?" Jessica asked, as she knelt next to Janna and Xander, who were just got bandaged up.

"They should be fine. The bullets went straight through without hitting any bone or arteries," Jake answered with a smile. "The shoulders should heal okay, but they'll be sore for a while," he added.

"Thanks Doc," Xander replied with a strained smile, as did Janna before she rested her head on Xander's other shoulder as Faith and Amy joined them, along with Giles and Johnson.

"Now what Mr. Johnson?" Xander asked the Council's man.

"We go back with the prisoners and the video footage and use it to bring Travers and his friends in the Council down," Johnson replied.

"How long and do you think your plan will actually work?" Amy inquired as she looked away from where her friend lay wounded, getting treatment.

"Oh, it will work, believe me. With this and the other evidence, we'll bring that rat down," Johnson said with confidence. "And we have enough of the assault teams with us in case he tries an insurrection," he added. "It'll be a month or two before you hear anything though," he now continued in a more subdued tone.

"So we won't be getting any help with Kakistos and his friends?" Jessica asked.

"I'm afraid not," Johnson replied with a frown.

"No sweat Mr. Johnson. We have his location and if we can hit them soon with some decent artillery, we should be able cut down on his advantage in numbers," Xander reassured not only their new ally, but the rest of the group as well.

"I wish you and your friends well, Mr. Harris. Pete, are we ready?" Johnson nodded.

"We are when Jake is," Nicols replied.

"I'm done sir," Jake said at that moment.

"Then let's go. The sooner we get back, the sooner we can take care of Travers and his goons," Johnson said, as he and Jake stood up and moved towards the door.

"Good luck Charles," Giles nodded towards the man.

"And to you Rupert," Johnson said back before he, his team and the prisoners left. Leaving behind a half destroyed library.  
23\. Chapter 23

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Dark Choices Chapter 23

The Mayor read over the new report that had just been delivered to him by one of his aides. He smiled, as he read that the Council assault teams had all left the Hellmouth after a very fierce gunfight within the High School library.

That left only two groups to dispose of, one way or the other, if he was to have no more interference in his plans for ascension. However, the numbers were against him in dealing with Kakistos and his childes, and revealing himself as an enemy to the Slayers and their allies would not be a good idea either. So far no one, but Kakistos knew who and what he was.

He sat back in his chair, as he began to think of a plan that would help him reach his goals without revealing himself to the Slayers.

+++

Kakistos listened to Tricks report on the assault on the library, by what had appeared to have been Council assault teams. This new information made him pause to consider his newest plans to deal with the two Slayers and their allies.

"Why would the Council attack their own Slayers, master?" Victoria asked, confused by her own memories of been an active Slayer with the Council.

"Why indeed?" Kakistos mused. "Someone on the Council must want to eliminate them," he continued.

"Why?" Victoria repeated her question.

"Only one idea comes to me, childe, and that is that the Slayers have tried to move away from the control of the Council," Kakistos answered her, noticing his childes confused look.

"This could be used to our advantage, my lord. If we could find out who on the Council wants them dead," Trick suggested.

"I doubt it. Your own report says that the attacking group was almost destroyed by a secondary team," Kakistos replied, as he stood up. "Obviously the Council is having something of a civil war on their hands, which at least will stop them aiding the Slayers, whilst we destroy them," he added.

Before anyone could ask another question or speak, the back portion of the abandoned factory they were staying in erupted into flames, setting seven of the vampires who were guarding the back entrance on fire, dusting them soon after.

A second explosion came from the front entrance, dusting five more vampires along with killing two of the order of Taraka, which Trick had hired.

"What's happening?" Kakistos roared, incensed.

"They've found us, master!" Victoria shouted, as she watched another explosion rock the factory from above, almost collapsing the already weakened roof.

"We have to leave. Quickly, the sewer exit!" Trick cried, grabbing his master's hand and trying to pull him towards the sewers, where the remaining vampires, demons and Tarakans were pulling the cover off, just as another explosion finally ripped the roof of the weakened building and crushed five of the Tarakans and three of the demons.

Victoria was almost crushed herself, before Kakistos pulled her away from the carnage the explosions were causing. Trick, however, wasn't as fortunate and was trapped under a part of the roof, before one last explosion brought the rest of the roofing and railings down just as the last of the survivors escaped through the sewer exit. Trick screamed, as one of the railings crunched right through his chest and dusted him instantly.

+++

Outside the factory

Xander moved as close to the abandoned factory as he could, Giles and Angel flanked him, whilst the others came up behind them. There were two vampires outside, confirming what Angel had found out about where Kakistos was hiding.

"This is it," Angel whispered, as the others knelt in a circle around them.

"Okay. Now remember, this stuff is dangerous," Xander warned everyone, as he handed out the Molotov cocktails, wincing at, but ignoring the pain in his left shoulder. He noticed Janna do the same, as she reached out for her own cocktail.

"We got it, Xander," Buffy said, sounding uneasy about using the homemade bombs.

"Just making sure Buffy. If anyone drops this stuff, they and their partner will become human torches," Xander said back, making the others notice his serious expression.

They nodded and then began to split up into teams of two, leaving Xander and Janna to take on the front entrance.

"How's the shoulder?" Janna asked him.

"Still sore, but that's no surprise," Xander answered, looking at his watch as he pressed his light. "You?" he asked back.

"Same," she replied. "But something else seems to be wrong," she added with a frown.

"What?" he asked.

"I keep feeling as if something or someone else is inside my head," she told him. "Since I was shot, I've been hearing whispers," she continued.

"Me too," Xander confessed, somewhat relieved that he wasn't the only one to be hearing voices in his head. "Do you think something could have happened when we got shot?" he inquired.

"It's possible. We'll have to do some checks when we get back to the library," Janna responded, feeling much better, thanks to Xander's confession.

Suddenly the back of the building exploded, as Angel and Buffy launched their first cocktail.

"That's the signal. I'll go first, aiming for the front entrance, then you go and aim for the roof," Xander told her with a smile as he crouched, before standing UP and launching his own cocktail.

Soon the abandoned factory was ablaze, as the last of the cocktails was thrown and the group reassembled at the front. They watched as the building began to collapse onto itself.

"Okay, let's get out of here, before the police and fire departments get here," Jessica said with a satisfied smile.

Everyone turned and quickly began making their way back to the school library, each with varying thoughts in their head.

+++

The next day

The Mayor read the report on the fire at one of the many abandoned factories in Sunnydale with a smile. It would seem the Slayer's and their allies were on the offensive and their attack may have dealt Kakistos a huge blow to his numbers.

His own efforts were going along nicely, as he quietly recruited as many vampires, as he could. He had made a deal with one of the remaining lackeys who had survived from the Slayer's assault on Angelus, Spike and Drusilla's base when they tried to open Acathla.

Yes, this could help his own plans very nicely, as he decided to allow the two groups to continue to deal with each other, before he made his own move.

+++

Kakistos snarled as the left over demons fled from his service after they had escaped their former base and made it to another factory, which at least looked a lot stronger than the last one did.

Victoria was organizing the vampires and the Tarakans, as well as doing a head count to see how many they had lost in the unexpected attack. He growled as he remembered that the attack had cost him Trick, one of his favorites. He would have vengeance on the Slayers and their allies for this if it was the last thing he did.

Victoria finally approached him with a grim look on her face.

"How many?" he commanded.

"We lost 22 of our numbers Master," she replied. "That's including the three demons and five Tarakans they got as well," she added.

"They shall pay for this. Prepare for a full assault with everything we have left. We shall lead this assault and end this once and for all," Kakistos commanded with another growl.

"Yes Master," Victoria replied with a savage grin at the thought of finally fighting the Slayers.

+++

Janna sighed as she sat back down after casting the last of the detection spells she believed would help uncover what had happened to her and Xander whilst the others, especially Faith looked on in confusion and concern.

"It's confirmed," she told everyone. "Somehow Xander and I have become bonded to each other," she explained with an almost shy look at Xander, who returned it, whilst trying to hide it from Faith, who was now looking somewhat angry.

"How did this happen?" Jessica asked.

"I think it has something to do with the trinity spell we used," Xander put in. "I've been thinking it's done more than what we originally thought it would do," he continued.

"What do you mean?" Giles asked, his interest peaked at that.

"I think Janna is no longer a ghost. I think she is for all intents and purposes alive and the fact that she bled when shot, should prove that," Xander answered. "Plus, she actually needs to breath, just like the rest of us," he added.

"My word," Giles gaped at the young lad he almost thought of as a son. "If what you say is true, we have broken everything we know about magic," he explained.

"It's also possible it's due to some cosmic event we didn't know about when we did the spell," Jessica added.

"It could be anything, but the fact is, me and Janna are now bonded to each other. We can hear each other's thoughts," Xander said, cutting off the pointless speculation.

"So, what does that mean now?" Faith asked defensively, afraid she might lose her new boyfriend.

"I don't know Faith," Xander answered truthfully. "And right now we can't concentrate on this problem either," he added. "Kakistos will be coming for us tonight and we need to be prepared," he finished.

"So what do we do?" Angel inquired.

"We need as many weapons as we can get, crossbows, swords and stakes," Xander answered as he stood up, not noticing the frown Faith shot him.

"Jessica and the others better rest as their magic will definitely be needed," Buffy spoke up.

"They will have to be covered while they're casting any spells. Oz, Cordelia, that's your job," Giles put in.

"Good idea. I'll join them for the beginning of the battle along with you, and then we'll engage any blood suckers who get close enough to our position," Xander agreed.

After a bit more planning the group broke up to go home and get some much needed rest, before what was undoubtedly going to be a long, hard fight.  
24\. Chapter 24

Note: Thanks to Inachis and Hawklan for making this fic more readable.

Dark Choices Chapter 24

Xander watched as the sun began to go down and darkness began to decent once more on Sunnydale. He was worried how all this would end, so much was on the line in what he hoped would be the last fight against Kakistos and his ilk.

He was hoping they had managed to get one of his children in their attack, as well as any demons he might have recruited. His mind then turned to the latest twist his life had taken, as he thought of the new bond he shared with a very much alive Janna Kalderash.

He could even now hear the older woman's thoughts, as her mind was also occupied along the same lines as his. He could feel her confusion and also her deeply hidden growing attachment to him. This was of course causing trouble between him and Faith, because he did return Janna's affection. He had always had a soft spot for the former computer teacher and now she was back and this bond joining them was growing. However, he had no idea how to handle any of this personal stuff right now, so he decided to just deal with Kakistos first and then he Janna and Faith would have to sit down and have a long talk.

Faith was currently resting against Jessica, as they discussed what had happened in the last twenty four hours. Faith knew her Watcher was worried about how the last fight would go, but she was confident they would win, as long as Kakistos could be brought down early.

Her mind quickly moved to her boyfriend and she frowned. She didn't like this bond that had somehow connected him to the returned Janna. She could see for herself that they both liked each other. Maybe they had even before Janna had been killed, but now she was involved as well and it hurt to know her new boyfriend liked another woman as well.

"It'll be okay Faith," Jessica's voice broke through her thoughts.

"I'm not worried about the fight Jess. It is Xander and his bond to Janna I'm concerned about," she confessed.

"Ah," Jessica said, her own face becoming concerned about how this was affecting her adopted daughter. "I don't know what to say Faith. Magic beyond what we know is at work there," she told her.

"It's not the magic that's the problem, it is his feelings for her and he does like her. I can see it in his eyes when he looks at her," Faith replied.

"I agree, Faith. I saw it too. I have talked to Rupert and he told me Xander and Janna got on very well before she was murdered," Jessica informed her. "However, I don't think he will leave you after everything you two have gone through together," she added.

"I hope so," Faith mumbled.

+++

Janna closed her eyes, as she tried to focus her magic for the third time, but as before, her concentration was broken not only by her thoughts, but by Xander's as well. His voice was as clear as if he was standing in front of her. His feelings were also clear to her, a mix of confusion, attraction and fear that matched her own perfectly.

She didn't know how she had become bonded to Xander, but she wasn't as opposed to it as she might have once been. She no longer cared for Rupert, due to his betrayal during the Angelus crisis, which had led to her death at the vampire's hands. Xander had been the only Scooby not to be angered by her mission to make sure Angelus continued to suffer for his crimes.

There was of course also the fact that she had secretly liked Xander before she had died as well. His humor was appealing and he wasn't bad looking. The only two things which had deterred her had been the age difference, which wasn't all that big to begin with and her growing relationship with Rupert at the time. Now neither of those factors was involved in her growing affection for the boy, who had somehow helped bring her back from the abyss. The only problem was Xander's relationship with Faith.

She shook her head, it was impossible to think all of this through until they dealt with Kakistos and his forces. To do anything else would help the vampire when he attacked. She took a few deep breathes and once again began tried to focus her magic for the coming fight.

+++

Buffy looked across at her friends who had just arrived before they headed to the library for what would be one of the hardest fights they had been in, she was sure of it. Cordelia and Willow both looked nervous, yet determined to give it everything they had. Oz on the other hand looked his usual calm self.

"Well, guess this it," Buffy mused, as the last bits of sunlight vanished and the darkness once again covered Sunnydale. "Let's go, we'll need to get ready before they attack," she added.

"Buffy?" her mom asked, with a concerned look on her face.

"Don't worry mom. The numbers should be even now and with Xander and his crew with us, we're more powerful," she tried to reassure her.

"I will worry Buffy, as I always worry when you go out," Joyce returned with a fierce look, causing Buffy to smile.

"We'll be fine, honest. Come on, we'd better go," Buffy said, giving Joyce a hug before she led her friends out.

+++

Kakistos growled as he looked around the factory while his minions began to prepare for their last attack on the library and the Slayers. He knew this was a calculated move on their part, but he had run out of patience and he wanted them dead.

He watched as Victoria, his surviving childe, began to arm herself. He knew she was looking forward to finally fighting the Slayers and once again proving she was better. He had told her she could have the blonde Slayer Summers, but that Faith was his to deal with. She had been a little disappointed, but considering most thought Summers the best Slayer in a long time, she soon thought she had the better target.

The Tarakan's were already geared up and now were just waiting for the order to attack. The loss of the demons had really annoyed him though, as they were great for pushing an attack through, but no matter he would see this end one way or the other.  
25\. Chapter 25

Dark Choices Chapter 25

"Master, we have a problem," Victoria said as she approached her master.

"What is it?" Kakistos asked.

"It's about the Mayor, master. He has been building a small army of vampires to help his plans," she reported.

"How many?" he inquired, as he sat down.

"44 so far master. He's working with a former accomplice of Angelus'. We captured two of his lackeys," she answered. "It's what they told me after some persuasion that has me troubled," she added.

"And what did they tell you he is up to?" Kakistos demanded to know, beginning to get a little impatient.

"The Mayor is to receive a powerful artifact tonight, called the box of Gavrok. Once he has it, he will be immune to anything and anyone," she reported.

Kakistos growled, as he heard this news. So the Mayor was about to get a step closer to his goal of ascension. Unfortunately this would work against him in the end. He would have to deal with his old enemy now.

"Send a small group of vampires, aided by some Tarakans, to capture the box. Gather the rest of our forces. We'll head to the Mayor's building to pay our respect," he commanded and stood up.

"But my lord, what about the Slayers?" Victoria asked, shocked that her master would change the plan so close to an attack and not just the plan, but the target as well.

"They can wait another day Victoria. We must deal with the Mayor now, before he gets that box. Do as I command!" Kakistos snapped.

"Yes my lord," Victoria nodded, before rushing off to do as she was told.

+++

The Mayor smiled as he anticipated the arrival of the box of Gavrok. Once he had the box and consumed what was inside, he would be immune to any attack until he ascended. He doubted the Slayers had any clue he was even a threat, as he had made sure not to pull attention onto himself. As for Kakistos, hopefully he was so wrapped up in eliminating the Slayers that he would forget just what Wilkins had planned, when he built Sunnydale on top of the Hellmouth.

+++

Kakistos watched the Mayor's residence closely, as it was patrolled by five vampires. Strange how the humans could ignore everything around them. He ordered some of the Tarakans he had with him to remove the guards, so that they could attack as fast as possible.

"Remember, kill if you have to, but subdue as many of the vampires as possible. Once we have killed the Mayor, they will join us and we can replenish our numbers," he ordered.

"Yes master," a chorus of voices replied, including Victoria who although disappointed that her fight with the Slayers had been postponed, was looking forward to the fight ahead.

"Master, the Tarakans are signaling, the guards are down," one of the vampires pointed out.

"Then let's pay our respects," Kakistos growled with a grim smile, as he began to stroll across the road, followed by his followers.

+++

The Mayor's smile began to slip as he heard what could only be fighting from within his own building. He didn't know what was happening, but it would seem his plans were to be disrupted after all and if he had to guess who it was, it would have to be Kakistos.

Before he could move towards the back of his room where he kept his potions and magical items, the doors to his office exploded inward as Kakistos and a female vampire entered, both covered in some blood, probably from the few humans who worked the night shift most likely.

"Ah Kakistos, how pleasant to see you again," the Mayor said with his usual smile.

"Wilkins, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Kakistos growled as a rather loud scream echoed down the corridor.

"It has," the Mayor responded. "So, what can I do for you?" the Mayor asked, trying not to feel nervous. He had to get to his back cabinet if he wanted to survive.

"Your head actually," Kakistos replied with a smile.

"Now, why would you want to do that, we're not enemies?" the Mayor said, trying to move slowly backwards.

"Oh, but we will be once I have destroyed the Slayers and by then you'd have that box, which would make you immune to any harm. I can't have you getting in my way," Kakistos answered, as he moved towards the hated man.

"Now, I am sure..." the Mayor started to say before Kakistos grabbed him around the throat and began to squeeze the life out of him.

"Don't bother Wilkins. Your time ends tonight and then the Slayers will be next," Kakistos smiled at his victim, as his eyes began to roll into his head as the oxygen was cut off.

"Master, may I finish him as you promised?" Victoria asked.

"Of course," Kakistos smiled, as he pushed Wilkins towards his childe, who quickly grabbed him and then sank her teeth into his neck, causing him to weakly cry out. Victoria drank for a few minutes before she withdrew and broke the Mayor's neck, finally killing him.

"His blood didn't taste nice," Victoria complained.

"That's not a surprise considering how many rituals he has taken part in to stay alive so long," Kakistos replied, as two vampires arrived, carrying a black box.

"We have it, master," they said, glad that the attack had gone well.

"Excellent, place it on the desk and then burn everything. I want this entire building burnt to the ground," he growled, as he removed something from the former Mayor's cabinet, which he knew would actually destroy the box he had gone to so much trouble to get.

You did not take possession of something as dangerous as the box of Gavrok without knowing how to destroy it, if something goes wrong. He poured the liquid over the box and watched in satisfaction as the box exploded, taking it's precious cargo with it. Black magic was truly dangerous and helpful.

"Time to go back with our new allies and then tomorrow, we shall destroy the Slayers and their friends."

Kakistos smiled as he left and then watched as his followers burnt the Mayor's residence to the ground, hopefully leaving no traces of what had occurred within.

"How many did we manage to convince to join us?" Kakistos asked.

"Our numbers are up to 55 vampires now, master, about what we had before, along with seven Tarakans," one of the vampires reported.

"Excellent," Kakistos said, imagining the attack on the Slayers and his defeat of them.

+++

The library was full of nervous energy, as they all waited for the attack, but so far nothing had happened. They arrived two hours ago and prepared and yet there was nothing.

"Where are they?" Amy asked, looking around at the others.

"I don't know, something must have happened to distract him," Giles concluded.

"Whatever it is, it may give us another day to prepare, but just in case Giles, you better cast that spell you did last time to seal the library until tomorrow. We better stay here tonight," Jessica added.

"She's right, it'd be suicide to go out now," Buffy agreed.

The others quickly nodded their own heads in agreement and watched as Giles recast the spell to seal the library until the following dawn.

"I'll take the first watch," Xander told everyone, as he hefted the shotgun he had brought for the impact shots. "Then Angel should relieve me in three hours and then Giles three hours after him," he added.

Angel and Giles both agreed with Xander's plan for watch detail and began settling down for the night, their nerves building. Xander sat on top of one of the stacks, ignoring Giles's complaint so he could see anyone coming towards the school. He looked across at the now dark library and hoped everything would be okay tomorrow.

His eyes lingered on Janna for a few minutes, taking in her features, before moving on to where Faith lay next to Amy and Jessica. He sighed and began to do something he hadn't done since he was five years old. He began to pray.  
26\. Chapter 26

Note: As always a big thank you to Inachis and Hawklan for their help.

Chapter 26

Xander woke with a start as he heard someone move closer to where he was lying near the far stacks. He turned quickly, fingering the dagger he kept near his side, before remembering the library was locked down by Giles' spell.

He turned back to where the noise was coming from, just to see that Faith had joined him with an uneasy expression on her face. He already knew what she would want to talk about. In his head he felt that Janna was awake and watching them. He tried to reassure her, but had no idea if she was able to pick it up or not.

"What's wrong Faith?" he inquired.

"I'm concerned about what's happening with you and Janna," Faith told him bluntly.

He sighed at seeing his thoughts were dead on, about what she wanted to discuss. He really didn't know what to tell her.

"I know you like her Xand, I've seen the way you look at each other and she likes you as well," Faith went on at his silence. "Jessica said that you and her were close before she was killed, so I want to know what's going on?" she asked again, her eyes curious.

"It's complicated Faith. Janna was a good friend before her death and I admit I liked her a lot, but she was after Giles until he ostracized her and joined Buffy's hate quest against her," Xander started. "I was the only one who stayed friends with her and we got closer after that, but then she died and I was exiled before anything could happen. Those feelings do still exist though," he added. "I do still like her and I like you as well Faith, so like I said it's complicated. Especially seeing as me and Janna are now bonded by magic no one can understand," he finished.

"So, what happens to our relationship?" Faith asked quietly.

"We still have one Faith, but if we survive this, I think we're going to have to sit down and discuss things between us and Janna," Xander told her gently.

"You want to what?" Faith asked, suddenly understanding what Xander might be hinting at. "You want some sort of three-way relationship?" she asked.

"It's a possibility I cannot dismiss, because of my split feelings between her and you and sadly I have to take in the bond between us as well," he answered. "But I won't force you to do anything you don't want, you know that, so you'll need to think about things carefully, okay?" he added.

Faith nodded, suddenly feeling both a little numb and strangely, a little anticipation. She turned and headed back to where Amy and Jessica were sleeping, giving Janna's supposed sleeping form a quick glance before settling down. She began to think about everything that had happened before sleep found her.

Xander sighed as he watched Faith head back. He hadn't meant to say that, but now that he had, he felt like something had been lifted off his shoulders. He felt Janna's concern about how things would play out, as well as her growing attachment to him.

He also couldn't help, but note that Janna didn't seem to have any aversion to a three-way relationship, if Faith decided to try it. He guessed somewhere in her teen days she had been a little wild. He lay back down and closed his eyes, hoping things would settle once they had dealt with Kakistos.

+++

Victoria smiled as she watched her master begin to draw together a new plan for tomorrow night's attack against the slayer's and their allies. With their numbers now back up to scratch, they should win easily.

She couldn't wait to engage the blond haired slayer and prove once again that she was the best fighter, after her master. She was still feeling the blood lust from the attack on the former Mayor's residence. There had been four humans she had fed off during the attack plus the tainted blood of the Mayor himself.

She was also still quite happy with the demise of Trick during the attack on their warehouse, which elevated her to the position of her master's favorite childe, just where she belonged. She had decided to turn the mate of Faith, as he had shown promise from what she had been told about him by her master, as punishment not only for the brunette slayer, but for her mate as well.

+++

Janna could not get back to sleep after she had seen Faith and Xander have a rather deep discussion about what was happening between him and herself. She had basically overheard the entire conversation inside her own head, so she knew what Xander had kind of offered as a solution.

It had reminded her of what she had done as an experiment with her two female friends from her tribe when she was younger. Faith was a very good looking woman, so if she decided to try it, Janna wouldn't object, but her deeper feelings were for Xander only and she doubted a three-way relationship would last for long. Still, she would be willing to try if it meant she could at last explore the feelings she had for Xander and which she knew he returned.

The sun rose and woke the occupants of the library. Giles felt the spell he had cast drop and he felt relief to know they had survived another night, but then he felt his mood darken as he realized they had only postponed the fight.

Buffy immediately headed for home, as did Oz, Willow and Cordelia. Faith left also, stating she needed some air as Angel quickly headed into the sewers. Xander and Janna stared at each other for a few minutes, as they both sat up before heading for the table, just as Giles put on the kettle. They were joined by Amy and Jessica.

"So, what now?" Amy asked.

"We will have something to eat and then we had better collect the others and get started on our defenses," Jessica answered.

"Giles!" Buffy shouted as she ran back into the library, followed by the others.

"What is it?" Giles asked, surprised to see his slayer return so quickly.

"The Mayor has been killed and his residence was burned to the ground. They say twelve staff members were killed as well," Buffy answered, shocking the others.

"However, one of the cops reported one or two of the bodies had marks on their necks," Cordelia spoke up.

"Kakistos?" Amy asked.

"Yes, but why would he attack the Mayor?" mused Jessica.

"Maybe the Mayor was up to something?" Xander suggested.

"Xander..." Willow groaned, thinking he was being paranoid.

"I'm serious. After everything we've been through, all the close calls we've had, not once, bar during Kendra's death, have we had any trouble with the cops or any Government officials," Xander explained.

"True, plus they know not to answer any night calls, like they know it will get them killed," Janna agreed.

"It is possible that the Mayor was aware of what happens after dark, but we cannot be sidetracked right now," Giles cut them off. "You'd better head home, get something to eat and then meet us back here to start building our defenses," he continued.

"Are you sure we shouldn't investigate this a little bit Giles?" Willow inquired a bit unsure.

"At the moment yes, we have far more immediate concerns to deal with," Giles answered.

Everyone nodded, agreeing with that statement. The group quickly disbanded, knowing that tonight they would not get a second reprieve.  
27\. Chapter 27

Note: As always a big thank you to Inachis and Hawklan for their help.

Chapter 27

Faith sat in the small café, still deep in thought. She was trying to decide to what she should do in relation to Xander and Janna. So far, there were only two options open to her and both were bad.

One option was to break up with Xander due to the fact he had feelings for another woman, as well as for her, but considering her own feelings and the newness of the relationship itself, that was not an option she was really considering.

The second was to accept Xander's half solution of a three way relationship with Janna, but that in itself brought up feelings of annoyance and fear within her. Although a small part of her was intrigued by such an idea, but she suppressed that feeling. Her relationship with Xander was new and she did not want to lose it so soon, so she decided when the time came, she would do what she had to, to keep the relationship alive unless she became too uncomfortable.

+++

Buffy sat on the couch talking to her mother about everything that had happened in such a short time. Her mother was horrified at the extreme actions of her daughter in regards to Xander, making Buffy feeling even guiltier about what she had done to her former friend/ally.

She could no longer convince herself that almost killing him had been the right course of action. Yes, he had lied to her and helped cause the death of her lover, but his reasoning had not been as petty as she had assumed it to be. Had she become so blinded at the time not to notice how things had changed between her and Xander?

She sighed as the answer came up with a solid yes, she had. Her mother just pushed it home. She had seen the changes Xander had undergone in the months he had been gone, the new confidence he had, his increased abilities and of course his relationships with those he considered friends.

Of their old group, only Giles was still close to Xander, only he had kept his head, most likely helped by his own hatred of her lover. She promised she would work to rebuild her friendship with Xander, no matter how long it might take. The past was finished and she promised not to make the same mistake again.

"Thanks mom," Buffy said, as she hugged her mother as thanks for her help in removing the last doubts from her mind.

"You're welcome and good luck tonight. Come back safe," Joyce replied, smiling.

"I think I will, we're a team," Buffy replied and for first time in a long time she remembered just what that meant.

+++

Xander sat at the table of the Rosenberg household beside Amy and Willow. The tension in the room was high, but Xander believed that by the time they went to the library, things would be much better for them all.

"It was a mistake, not helping you," Willow finally spoke, breaching the silence. "If Giles hadn't intervened, you most likely would be dead and once my anger had worn off, I'd have been devastated to know I helped bring it about," she continued. "You had good reasons for doing what you did and I should have used my head to think of all the possibilities before doing what I did and I am sorry," she finished.

Xander absorbed all of this, making sure to keep eye contact with his former best friend, aware that Amy was split between anger and joy at the redhead admitting her mistake. His own feelings were a mix of all sorts of things, including relief, pain and a small resurgence of anger from the initial betrayal, but he decided that in light of recent events, it was time to start anew.

"It will take time Willow, but I think our friendship can be saved," he started. "You acted out of anger because I didn't do what you wanted me to do and from a perspective that I had not trusted your abilities, which were for good reasons," he continued. "You also decided that your friendship with Buffy was more important than ours, maybe due to fear, I don't know, but in the end, it made you act in a manner, which was not really you," he added.

Willow nodded her head as she remembered what she had been feeling when she had learned of Xander's lie and had to admit that the fear of losing Buffy's friendship might have been a deciding factor in her own actions.

"I don't know if our friendship will ever be what it was, but we can try, right?" Willow asked.

"Yes, we can try," Xander agreed with a small smile, as did Amy who was happy to see her best friend start the full healing process.

+++

The library was quickly refilled by noon that day. The tension was lessened now that some of the issues between the groups had been dealt with. Giles and Jessica stood at the head of the table, looking both nervous and resolute over the coming fight.

"We have agreed to place a barricade against the back entrance so they cannot swamp us from behind," Giles started.

"I have an idea on how to minimize their numbers," Oz spoke up.

"Go ahead," Jessica prompted.

"We place gasoline on the floor around the door and when they rush in, one of us lights it up. Should take a bunch of the vamps out at least," Oz explained. "Xander's plan of using Molotov cocktails gave me the basic idea," he added as an afterthought.

"Good idea," Xander nodded his head. "Oz, you get the gasoline and I'll collect some lighters," he added.

"Anything else we can use?" Cordelia asked.

"Apart from the weapons, we don't have much," Jessica said, somewhat resigned.

"I might have a suggestion, but we'd have to make sure the school is empty before we try it," Angel put in.

"What's the plan?" Buffy asked.

"We place a wooden plank above the main library doors with stakes and knives attached to it, then place a rope connecting it to the way the doors open. In the moment they open the doors, the plank moves downward, plunging the stakes and knives into whoever comes in first," Angel explained.

Silence met his explanation for a few minutes as everyone thought of how this could help them.

"It's worth a shot," Giles said with a nod.

"Then let's get to work," Janna agreed.  
28\. Chapter 28

Note: As always a big thank you goes to Inachis and Hawklan for their help.

Chapter 28

Kakistos looked upon the library with a burning hatred, as he knew his enemies were inside, awaiting him. He could hardly contain his thirst for the coming battle, but he knew he had to keep his head and stick to his plan. Otherwise he would face defeat once again, just like before.

Victoria was barely keeping herself from launching herself through the school to find her prey and to bathe in the blood of another slayer she had bested.

Kakistos knew the slayers and their allies were not like his usual enemies, which he quickly destroyed. This had been proven again and again by their survival and so he had decided to send a small wave of vampires in first to see if they had any hidden surprises in store for them and only then unleash the rest of his vampires, whilst he, Victoria and the remaining Taraka assassins went either in the back, through the windows or even the roof, taking the defenders by surprise.

+++

Xander hefted his shotgun, knowing he would only get maybe three shots with it before he would have to switch weapons to make sure he didn't accidentally kill one of his friends with a stray shot.

"Remember, no one lights the fire at the doors until the second wave hits," he reminded the others.

"You really think they aren't just all gonna charge in and try and over run us?" Buffy asked, while being a little frustrated at the lack of action so far. She just wanted this fight over with.

"Kakistos isn't stupid Buff, he'll send a small scouting force first to see if we have any ambushes waiting and then, when he thinks our tricks are all used up, he'll rush us," Xander answered.

"Great, I hate smart vamps," Buffy grumbled.

"You and me both," Faith agreed from her side.

Suddenly the sound of charging feet could be heard from the hallway and everyone quickly began to prepare for one hell of a fight. The door smashed open, revealing a force of twenty vampires. Seven of those were instantly speared on the trap Angel had come up with.

Xander took two down with clear head shots, whilst Giles and Jessica downed another two with bolt shots to the vamps hearts. Angel led the charge into the remaining lackeys with Buffy, Faith and finally Xander. They had decided to keep their magic users in reserve.

Xander ducked a wild swing from one vamp and managed to swing his hidden stake into the back of another, who was about to try and blind side Faith, before he dropped to the group and swept the feet out from under the vamp he had actually been fighting and staking it as well.

Angel had killed one vamp straight off with a powerful ramming of his stake into his adversary's chest. He quickly dropped another before being charged by two others, who knocked him to the ground before Buffy beheaded one with a sword, she had grabbed whilst Faith took the other with a swift kick to the head and then a staking.

The last three vampires tried to run, but two of them ended up dust from Giles' and Jessica's crossbolts and the last was killed when Faith threw her stake straight through its heart. They quickly retook their positions behind cover.

"Oz, Cordelia, you ready? Faith asked.

"Ready," Oz said, as he lit the lighter he had placed near a line of gasoline they had spread out from the doors to the defensive circle.

"I'm good," Cordelia said somewhat nervously as she too got ready to light the second line of gasoline.

"Do you think we'll catch a lot of them?" Amy asked from the side, where she crouched along with Janna and Willow.

"Hopefully," Buffy answered.

The sound of a lot more feet began to echo in the hallway.

"Begin casting your spells," Giles ordered as he, Jessica and Xander moved to cover their magical support.

The three witches quickly closed their eyes and began to chant different spells, one of which would be a shield spell. This time the doors were knocked right of their shattered hinches as the vampires charged inside.

"Now, light'em!" Xander shouted.

Oz and Cordelia both dropped their lighters into the gasoline, which quickly caught fire and spread straight to the pool around the doors. The three back rows of vampires were quickly set on fire and turned to dust, leaving at least twenty vampires for the others to deal with.

As Angel, Buffy and Faith prepared to charge in the side windows were smashed and the Taraka assassins began to enter the library, whilst Kakistos and Victoria jumped down from the upper window in the ceiling, completing the forces standing against them.

At the same time Willow and Amy unleashed their spells, which quickly turned four vampires into dust, two by fire and two by flying stakes, one of which just missed hitting the newly arrived Victoria.

"Ah Buffy, if it isn't the so called greatest slayer in a century," Kakistos taunted, as he saw the blond slayer.

Victoria ignored everything else as she charged as quickly as she could towards where Faith was standing. The two went flying to the floor as they collided.

Angel quickly threw one of the last Molotov cocktails Xander had put together from the left over gasoline, toasting another seven vampires which they could ill afford to fight as well as the Tarakas. Cordelia threw the other, but not at the vampires. She threw it at three of the Tarakas themselves, catching all three as Xander charged another.

Buffy's eyes narrowed as she approached the tall vampire, knowing she could not afford to be flippant or get distracted in this fight.

Faith managed to block a kick to the side only to be caught by the vamps right fist. She spat blood out of her mouth as her anger began to boil. She fainted to the right before landing a solid blow to the left side, causing the vamp to cry out, as she backed off a bit.

"You'll pay for that," Victoria spat. "And after I have dealt with you, I will claim your mate as my own," she taunted, knowing it would anger the slayer further and made her lose her concentration.

Faith immediately jumped forward, catching the vampire off guard with her burst of speed. She kneed her in the gut and then caught her with a headbutt. However Victoria quickly responded with a kick to Faith's knee and then let a side kick follow to her side, knocking Faith to the ground. As Victoria got ready to deliver the fatal blow and Faith tried to push herself back up, someone pushed a stake straight through Victoria's back. She turned to catch sight of Jessica before turning to dust.

"Faith?" Jessica asked as she helped her adopted daughter up.

"I'm ok," Faith assured her. "That kick broke a rib, I think, give me a minute," she added as Oz took a position to their left and fired another bolt, dusting another of the vampires, which left only five, after the others had fallen prey to the spells of Willow, Janna and Amy who remained guarded by Giles and now Cordelia.

Xander suddenly cried out as the Taraka he was fighting shoved a knife into his left arm and twisted it, causing even more pain. Xander headbutted the Taraka as a fireball passed him to engulf another of the Tarakas. He knew Janna had thrown that.

"You fight well, human. Why not join us?" the Taraka said, obviously impressed.

"Not likely," Xander shot back, as he ran forward, ignoring the pain, and threw a left hook which the Taraka dodged. He tried a right hook, which this time the Taraka caught, but Xander quickly shot out his leg and drove it into the right knee of the assassin, breaking it with the force of the blow, causing the Taraka to fall to the floor, where he ended up getting stabbed by Faith, who had run over at Xander's scream of pain.

Angel got back up slowly. The blow he had taken from the Taraka's club had caught him off guard, but his vampirc healing was already working. He noticed the last of the vampires were now gone, either dead or having run away, and they were only facing three Taraka and of course Kakistos, who was beating Buffy quite badly. This caused him to get angry and he charged the Taraka again.

Buffy shook her head, trying to clear her vision a bit. This vampire hit rather hard and he had already landed some bad blows to her ribs and her left arm. However, she knew she couldn't give up, not yet. She was put a little off guard by the size of the vampire. Suddenly Faith was by her side.

"Need a hand B?" she asked, as she dropped into a fighting stance.

"Actually I could use one," she replied, feeling no shame in admitting it.

Kakistos growled in rage, as Faith joined the blond in facing him, as this meant Victoria had fallen.

"I will feast on the both of you," he cried out as he charged.

Both slayers jumped to different sides and landed sidekicks to Kakistos, causing him to wince. Suddenly a boom echoed in the library and they turned to see that Janna had grabbed Xander's discarded shotgun and shot the last Taraka, just as Angel was busy ripping the head of the other.

Their distraction was costly, however, as Kakistos backhanded Buffy, sending her flying into the wall. Faith managed to recover faster and ducked Kakistos second swing and kicked out, catching him in the side again.

"You can't win Faith," he taunted.

"Wanna bet," Buffy spat from behind him as she pushed her stake through his back, missing the heart by half an inch, but still it caused the vampire to howl in pain and anger.

Faith took advantage of his distraction to grab a sword from the shattered weapons cabinet and the witches used their magic to put out the raging fire around the doors. Faith charged towards Kakistos, who had turned back towards Buffy, and jumped, swinging her sword in a cutting ark that removed the vampires head from his body. Both turned to dust instantly.

Instant quiet settled in the library, as almost to the last person they collapsed in exhaustion and pain. The library had taken massive damage and they knew they would have to face questions the next day, but for now they didn't care. They had survived, barely.

"Giles, better get the med kit. We better start seeing to the wounded and then we can head home. We'll deal with the damage here later," Janna spoke up.

"No, we won't. We're gonna blow the school and leave no evidence of what happened," Xander said as he stood, grimacing in pain.

"We're gonna do what?" Buffy almost shouted in shock.

"With what's gone on lately Buffy, any evidence we leave will make it look like we're responsible not just for this, but what happened to the Mayor and the factory," Xander explained. "If we blow the school and make sure we have alibis, then it will look like some gang has been blowing things up and the cops won't look at us too closely," he added.

"Giles?" Buffy asked, confused.

"He has a point Buffy," Giles conceded. "But what about my books?" he asked, concerned at losing all of his collection.

"We'll take care of that Giles," Janna assured him. "Willow, Amy," she called and the other two witches came to stand on either side of her and began chanting, as did Janna. The library was bathed in a white light and suddenly nearly the entire library was gone, leaving only the books that were actually supposed to be there.

"Where did you send them?" Jessica asked.

"I sent them to yours and Giles places, as it wouldn't do to have them all in one place," Janna replied.

"Alright, let's get out of here. Angel, you're with me," Xander told the others.

The vampire nodded his head in agreement, as he watched the others grab some stuff, including the weapons Giles had stored within the library, and then left the school.

"So, how are we gonna do this?" Angel asked.

"I want you to go down to the boiler room and smash the gas valves, all of them, and then use this last can of gasoline to lay a trail up to here. Then we light it and run," Xander informed him.

Angel nodded and quickly ran off, as Xander grabbed the lighter Oz had used and waited for the souled vampire to return. A few minutes later he did, trailing the gasoline behind him before dropping the can once he had reached the library.

"Alright, get ready to run, this whole place will go up in seconds," Xander warned him before flicking the lighter's wick and then lighting the gasoline. Before he could turn and run Angel grabbed him and began to run with him hoisted on his shoulders, heading straight into the hallway and then out of one of the windows, cutting them both.

Both rolled away from the glass before they got back to their feet and ran towards where Giles and the others were waiting.

"Go!" Xander shouted as he continued to run. The others did just that.

A few seconds after Angel and Xander had crashed through the window, the Sunnydale high School was blown to pieces, waking nearly the entire populace of the town with the force of the explosion.

The group had split into three. One headed for Buffy's, one to Giles' and the last to Jessica's. They all arrived ten to fifteen minutes after the explosion. Once again luck was with them. They encountered no one, as no one was stupid enough to go out after midnight in Sunnydale.

They knew tomorrow would be hectic, but not as bad as it could have been. They had agreed to meet up at Buffy's in the morning to discuss what happened next.  
29\. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

The next day came quickly, although for the group it seemed to have been only seconds ago that they actually had gotten to sleep. They quickly met up at Buffy's, as they had planned, quickly reporting the amount of cops, ambulances and fire engines around the school.

"So, do you think they will find anything that could lead to us?" Buffy asked somewhat nervously.

"I doubt it, unless we left something behind, which I made sure we didn't," Giles tried to reassure her.

"So, now what happens?" Willow asked.

"We take a break, right?" Cordelia questioned.

"Maybe," Xander said, as he stood up and walked to the window.

"Meaning?" Buffy asked with narrowed eyes, hoping there wasn't something else to deal with.

"I'm talking about the distance that still exists between our two groups," he answered. "We may have sorted out some of the problems which started this, but not everything. So I was thinking that maybe me and the others should go somewhere for a month or so and let things settle here. Then we'll know if the steps we've taken under pressure will hold," he added as he faced the others.

Buffy looked confused for a few minutes as to why Xander would say this. Then she realized that she still hadn't put everything behind her, even though she was trying as hard as she could. Willow was upset that Xander wanted to leave so soon after they had put their friendship back on track.

Cordelia and Oz didn't really give anything away by their expressions, whilst Giles looked somewhat resigned to the fact that his friends would be leaving again, even if it was for a short amount of time.

Jessica and Faith seemed surprised at Xander's suggestion, but quickly realized that maybe Xander wasn't ready to resettle in Sunnydale, any more than they were.

Amy just nodded her head, prepared to follow her friend and to help him whenever she could, now that she had decided to put her feelings behind her.

Janna also nodded and was actually happy that Xander wanted to leave Sunnydale for a while, as she was still getting used to being back. She was also not comfortable around Giles and the others just yet.

"Are you sure Xander?" Giles asked.

"I think it's the best thing to do, Giles. We need time to put everything that's happened in perspective and really think about where we want to go from here," Xander replied, as he sat back down next to Janna.

"I agree with him, both groups need time Rupert," Jessica spoke up. "If we're to have any hope of integrating both groups, then this is the best course of action," she added.

"But...," Willow started to argue.

"Willow, please don't try and argue the point," Amy interrupted the red head. "We need to let things settle down and then when we come back, we'll know if we have any chance of pulling both groups into one," she continued.

"I'm sorry Willow, I have to agree," Buffy finally spoke up, trying to ignore the hurt look Willow sent her way. "I managed to put quite a bit behind me and even realize some things in the last month or so, but there are still some things I need to work out," she continued. "I think Xander's suggestion is the best thing for all of us." She gave Xander a small smile, which he returned even if his smile was still somewhat strained.

"Where will you go?" Oz asked as he watched his girlfriend try and resolve some inner struggle.

"I was thinking of going to San Francisco for a while," Xander answered.

"Why there?" asked Amy.

"I've always heard it is a nice city and I've always wanted to visit it," he replied.

The others in his group nodded in agreement with his suggestion, although Janna knew there was more to Xander's suggestion that he was saying. She could feel something else was on his mind, something to do with something he had read in one of Jessica's books back in Boston.

"When will you go?" Willow asked sadly.

"Day after tomorrow, just to make sure the cops don't come after any of us," Jessica was the one who answered that question.

The day after tomorrow arrived quicker than some of the group would have liked. Especially Willow was regretting her mistake more and more as time passed, but she knew Xander was right about the groups needing time apart.

The cops had filed their report on the destruction of the school the day before and had blamed it on a gang war over turf and had ruled them as the same gangs responsible for the Mayor's demise.

The group was now standing outside of Giles' place as Xander and Faith finished packing the four by four Jessica had brought.

"It's been good to have you back here Xander, and you as well, Amy," Giles told the two teens, as he stepped forward and engulfed them both in a strong hug, surprising some of the others with his show of emotion.

"It's been nice meeting you, B, even if we got off to a rocky start," Faith said, shaking her sister slayer's hand.

"I have to agree Faith, and I hope when you come back, we can start fresh," Buffy replied, to which Faith nodded.

Jessica had spent most of the last day with Rupert discussing a lot of things, including what may happen in the future, and she was glad that they would be returning, as she hoped her renewed friendship could lead to something more.

Willow spent a few moments crying on Xander's shoulder, as they shared a brief hug before they parted.

"I'll see you again Willow, I promise, but for now we need some space," Xander told her with a small smile as he got in the car with the others.

He gave Buffy and her group one last look before the four by four pulled out of the driveway and headed towards the interstate. He grasped both Janna's and Faith's hands in his and hoped the future would be brighter from here on out.

The End

Author's notes: I want to thank everyone who has reviewed this story and I'm glad that you have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I have quite a few ideas for a sequel, which I am sure some of you can guess from the ending what it may entail and a bit of it is already written. So keep an eye out for it.


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